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Thomas Speers is Promoted. Page 18. 




ISLES OF THE SEA; 

OR, 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 


& iStorg of Crabcl anti Sbbenture. 


BY 

WILLIAM T. ADAMS 

1 1 

( Oliver Optic), 

AUTHOR OF “OUTWARD EOUND,” “SHAMROCK AND THISTLE,” c< RED CROSS,” 
“DIKES AND DITCHES,” “PALACE AND COTTAGE,” “DOWN THE 
RHINE,” 44 UP THE BALTIC,” 44 NORTHERN LANDS,” 

“CROSS AND CRESCENT,” 54 SUNNY SHORES,” 

“VINE AND OLIVE,” ETC. 



BOSTON 

LOTHROP, LEE & SHEPARD CO. 



OCX 1 % *s*0J» 

I . Oopyrupti ciiir^ 

I QUU& (X AM «3m . 

/ A U X 3 V 

| <JOF> Ji. 


Copyright, 1877, by 
WILLIAM T. ADAMS 

Copyright, 1905, by 
ALICE ADAMS RUSSELL 
All Rights Reserved 


ISLES OF THE SEA 



Zo fffllg JFrientr 


P. WOODBURY DODGE, Esq., 

OF AMHERST, N. H., 

BENEATH WHOSE HOSPITABLE ROOF IT WAS WRITTEN, 

ST fj 1 0 Folum? 

IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED. 
































? 























































































PREFACE. 


“ Isles of the Sea” is the sixth and last volume of the second 
series of “Young America Abroad,” and contains the history of 
the academy squadron during its voyage, “homeward bound,” 
across the Atlantic. The title of the book, “ Isles of the Sea,” 
indicates the character of the foreign travel in which the students 
of the institution were engaged ; and in the pursuit of knowledge 
they visit the Madeira Islands, the Canaries, the Azores, the Ber- 
mudas, and one vessel of the fleet extends its cruise to the Cape 
Verd Islands. As in its predecessors, the professor of geography 
and history has something to say about each of the islands visited, 
and the surgeon and sanitary officer continues to enlighten the 
young gentlemen who seek his companionship in their rambles on 
shore. The field of geography and history is not so extensive as 
in the preceding volumes of the series ; and for this reason the 
story occupies a larger place in the book. 

Of the story, Mr. Tom Speers is the central figure, or at least 
one of the most prominent characters. Possibly he may be deemed 
a rather eccentric character for one under age ; but, as the author 
has so often expressed himself before, it does not so much matter 
what else a young man may be, if he only has high aims, and a 
resolute purpose to carry out his ideal of what is noble, good, and 
true. Tom is a high-toned young man, as are all the other charac- 
ters with whom the young reader is at all likely to sympathize, 
and in whose fortunes he is most certain to be interested. 

As to the innate probability of a few of the leading incidents, 
they are suggested by actual occurrences in maritime history, which 

5 


6 


PREFACE. 


may be recalled by those who have kept themselves familiar with 
the subject. In regard to the long search of the Ville d’Angers 
for the academy squadron, which extended nearly across the Atlan- 
tic, the recorded experience of those who have traversed the ocean 
on similar ventures shows how difficult it is, away from the tele- 
graph and the ship news, for one vessel to find another. 

The first volume of the first series of “ Y oung America Abroad” 
was published in 1866, by the publishers whose imprint is on the 
present and last of the series. It is therefore eleven years that 
the author has been engaged in this pleasing work. These books 
have been received with a degree of favor which the writer is 
proud and happy to acknowledge, and for which he returns his 
sincere thanks. He is especially grateful that his life has been 
spared to complete the work begun ; and every year has increased 
his interest in the host of young friends to whom these books 
have introduced him in all parts of the country. He regrets, that, 
in this particular field of travel and adventure, his task has reached 
its conclusion. He has crossed the Atlantic four times, and trav- 
elled in every country of Europe, in preparing himself for the 
work ; and the pleasant memories of the “ lonely ocean ” and the 
far-distant lands he has visited will always be retained and cher- 
ished, in their association with the multitude of young people in 
whose delightful service he voyaged and travelled. 

Towerhouse, Boston, Nov. 3, 1877. 


1 I 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 

I. The Telegraphic Despatch n 

II. The Letter from London 25 

III. An Approaching Squall 39 

IV. A Vessel in Distress 53 

V. Boarding the Wreck 67 

VI. A Volunteer Ship’s Company 81 

VII. The Invalid Young Lady ........ 95 

VIII. The Ville d’Angers 109 

IX. The New Ship’s Company 123 

X. Something about the Madeira Islands . . .137 

XI. Budding Vines and Orange Groves . . . .151 

XII. Concerning the Missing Steamer 165 

XIII. A Mutiny in the Fire-Room 180 

XIV. The Wreck of the Castle William .... 194 

XV. A Change of Destination 200 

XVI. The Wine-Room of the Ville d’Angers . . . 222 

XVII. Striking while the Iron is Hot 236 


8 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE 


XVIII. A Trip to the Canary Islands 250 

XIX. Walks and Talks about the Canary Islands, 263 

XX. “A Yankee Ship and a Yankee Crew” . . . 276 

XXI. The Sprigs of Nobility 292 

XXII. What the Students saw in the Azores . . 306 

XXIII. Carrying out the Programme 319 

XXIV. A Hasty Run to the Cape Verds 333 

XXV. The Last of the Isles of the Sea ..... 348 

XXVI. Young America Homeward Bound 363 


» 


ISLES OF THE SEA. 





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ISLES OF THE SEA; 

OR, 

YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 


CHAPTER I. 

THE TELEGRAPHIC DESPATCH. 

" A LL hands, pipe to muster ! ” shouted the boat- 
swain of the Tritonia. 

At the same moment the shrill whistle and the sharp 
cry sounded through the American Prince and the 
Josephine. The squadron was at anchor in Gibraltar 
Bay ; and since seven bells in the first watch, the signal, 
“ Assign rank,” had been displayed on the American 
Prince, the flag-ship of the fleet. 

It was the first day of April. The merit marks of 
the students had been added since the last recitations, 
and the offices were to be given out at eight bells. 
The squadron had visited all the ports of the Spanish 
Peninsula, and several trips to the interior had been 
made. The fleet was to sail to Seville to witness the 
scenes of Holy Week ; and this excursion was to finish 
the cruise, not only in the waters of Spain and Portu- 
gal, but in those of Europe. The vessels would then 


12 


ISLES OF THE SEA ; OR, 


be homeward bound, but by the way of the “ Isles of 
the Sea.” 

There was no little excitement in all the vessels of 
the squadron. Though the students could keep their 
own reckoning tolerably well, so far as the literary 
pursuits were concerned, they were wholly in the dark 
in relation to the marks for seamanship, navigation, 
and conduct. Some had strong hopes and expecta- 
tions, based upon their own earnest efforts ; and these 
were seldom greatly disappointed, though their rank 
was sometimes not so high as they anticipated. But, 
as a rule, the whole matter was a great mystery, which 
it was not possible to find out. 

Sometimes there would be very little change in the 
rank of the officers for several months ; and then 
came a general turn-over of every thing. The rise 
from the steerage to the cabin was almost uniformly 
slow and regular, though sometimes a student jumped 
over the heads of the half-dozen who had stood next 
above him. This sudden elevation of an officer or 
seaman had a tendency to produce bad feeling among 
his rivals in the race for honors, for the boys continued 
to be human in spite of the discipline of the service. 

Possibly the interest on the present occasion was 
intensified by the fact that the squadron was so soon 
to sail for home; and doubtless many of the students 
were thinking of the uniform in which they should be 
presented to their friends on their return to the 
American shores. On board of the Tritonia it was 
known among the closer observers of events, that 
several of the students had been putting forth ex- 
traordinary exertions i and this circumstance fully 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 


*3 


accounted for the unusual excitement of the day. 
Among them was Bark Lingall, who had attempted 
to run away, but had voluntarily returned. He ap- 
peared to be thoroughly reformed, and, from one of 
the most indifferent and vicious boys in the vessel, 
had become a model of propriety in all things, as 
well as a very diligent and faithful scholar. 

There was a certain class of students in the steer- 
age of the Tritonia, as there always is in any large 
company of boys, who affected to despise one who haji 
turned away from his evil habits and associations, and 
reformed his life and character. Lingall had his trials 
with this class of students ; but he was resolute in his 
purpose to continue in the good way. Under the in- 
fluence of Raymond, who had inspired him with the 
desire to do his whole duty, he kept his temper under 
his persecutions ; and in no instance was he provoked 
to subject himself to discipline by the jeers and taunts 
of the disaffected. 

Another student in the Tritonia, who had not dis- 
tinguished himself by any misconduct, though he had 
been an easy-going fellow, suddenly began to exert 
himself without any apparent stimulus for such action. 
He was a high-minded boy, but rather peculiar in his 
ways of thinking and doing. His name was Thomas 
Speers. He was twenty years old, though he did not 
show his years, and one might easily have mistaken 
him for sixteen. 

For the reason that they were doing their best in 
seamanship and the studies, Bark Lingall and Tom 
Speers excited a great deal of remark, not to say feel- 
ing, among the students. Bark had one of the highest 


14 


ISLES OF THE SEA ; OR, 


numbers in the vessel, which indicated that his rank 
was among the lowest. He had never done any work 
he could avoid doing since the first two or three 
months of his service in the vessel. He had been 
a conspirator against the discipline and even the 
safety of the schooner, and was considered a bad boy 
by the vice-principal in charge and the professors. 

Tom Speers had no particular record. He was con- 
sidered a good fellow by the students in general ; and, 
though he was noted for his independence, he had 
never wilfully broken the rules of the vessel. He was 
a first-class seaman ; and his ability as a student was 
discovered to be of the highest order as soon as he 
chose to exert himself. 

While the boatswain of the Tritonia was still piping 
his call to muster through the vessel, a shore boat 
approached the gangway. A man in the stern hailed 
the vessel ; and Marline, the adult boatswain, v ent 
down on the accommodation steps to see wha. he 
wanted, for visitors were not admitted at this time. 

“ Is there a man by the name of Thomas Speers on 
board of this craft ? ” asked the man in the boat. 

“ We have a young man of that name on board,” 
replied Marline. 

“Can I see him for a moment ?” 

“For a moment you can ; but he will be wanted very 
soon.” 

The boatswain returned to the deck, and, calling 
Speers, sent him to the gangway. As the student had 
no friends in Gibraltar, he wondered who could wish 
to see him. He hastened to the steps, and went down 
iG the platform at the foot of them. Marline remained 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 1 5 

at the rail, to see that nothing improper passed be- 
tween Speers and the man ; but he was called away 
before the student had communicated with the boat. 

“ Telegraph despatch from San Roque,” said the mes- 
senger, handing the document to Speers. 

“ It can’t be for me,” protested the student, surprised 
that such a message should come to him. “ I don’t 
know any one in San Roque.” 

“ It is directed to Thomas Speers, and there is the 
name of this vessel on it,” persisted the messenger, 
pointing to the address. “ But it is not from San 
Roque the message comes : that is the nearest tele- 
graph station.” 

“ Where did it come from ? ” asked Speers, turning 
the message over and over in his hand. 

“ I don’t know : you can tell by opening it.” 

“ I don’t want to open it, if it is not for me.” 

“ If your name is Thomas Speers, it is for you. I 
have done my errand, and I have nothing more to say 
about it,” ^dded the man, as he shoved his boat off 
from the platform. 

“ All hands on deck ! ” shouted an officer at the gang- 
way. 

Speers put the message into his pocket. He seemed 
to have no curiosity in regard to its contents. He was 
more interested in the distribution of the offices on 
board of the Tritonia ; but he did not believe the mes- 
sage was for him. He hastened back to the deck, and 
took his station in the waist. 

He hoped his place would be on the quarter-deck 
for the new term. He had made a desperate struggle 
with all his studies, and he was not conscious that he 


1 6 ISLES OF THE SEA; OR, 

had failed in any thing. Mr. Pelham, the vice-principal, 
took his position at the heel of the main-mast, with the 
list of officers and seamen in his hand. Most of the 
students looked very anxious, though a few of the “ma- 
rines ” affected to make fun of the occasion, and pre- 
tended that they did not care what positions fell to 
their lot. 

The vice-principal made the usual introductory 
speech, pointing the moral the occasion suggested. 
The record for the last month indicated some very 
important changes ; and he hoped they would cause no 
ill feeling either in the cabin or the steerage. The 
merit marks strictly represented the conduct and work 
of the students ; and the result of the addition of the 
figures had caused as much surprise among the pro- 
fessors as it would among the young gentlemen. 

Mr. Pelham then announced the name of Wain- 
wright as captain. This officer had held the position 
for many months ; and, as he was very popular on 
board, the announcement was received with hearty ap- 
plause. Greenwood was first lieutenant again ; and his 
name was well received by the ship’s company. Scott, 
who had been fourth lieutenant during the preceding 
month, came in as second ; and, as the joker had always 
been a favorite, his promotion produced a very decided 
sensation. 

“ I congratulate you, Mr. Scott,” said the vice-prin- 
cipal, with a smile. 

“ Thank you, sir. For the good of the Tritonia, I 
am glad this thing has happened,” replied the joker. 

“ Modesty is a cardinal virtue,” added Mr. Pelham. 

“ I know it, sir ; and that is the reason I am so heav- 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 


*7 


ily loaded with it,” returned Scott, making a face which 
caused a tremendous laugh on the quarter-deck. 

If there was anybody that did not laugh, it was Alex- 
ander, who had formerly been first lieutenant ; and his 
name was not yet called. But it came in next as third 
lieutenant ; while O’Hara, the “ Oyrish Oytalian,” was 
again the fourth lieutenant. 

“ No great change in that,” said Richards, the first 
master, who had been struggling for a lieutenant’s place 
for months. 

“ No ; but that shows the changes are yet to be men- 
tioned,” replied Blair, the fourth master, to whom the 
remark had been addressed. “ It looks as though 
there was a chance for some of us to take a berth in 
the steerage. Perhaps you are the one to go down, 
Richards.” 

“ What makes you think so, Blair ? ” asked the first 
speaker anxiously. 

“ I don’t think so : I have no opinion at all about it. 
If there are to be great changes, some of us will have 
to go down,” added Blair. 

So it proved ; but not just as the fourth master had 
indicated. The vice-principal paused a long time be- 
fore he read the next name ; and the hearts of many 
beat violently as the moment came that might dash 
down all their hopes for the present. 

“ First master,” said the vice-principal at last, 
“ Thomas Speers.” 

The announcement was received in silence and in 
blank amazempnt. The students who had observed 
that Speers was making an effort thought it possible 
he might be coxswain of the captain’s gig, captain of 


1 8 ISLES OF THE SEA ; OR, 

the after-guard, or something of that sort; but they 
had not the slightest expectation that he would get into 
the cabin, to say nothing of his jumping over the heads 
of four masters who had been in the cabin for months. 
The experience of the past demonstrated that a fellow 
who once got into the cabin very seldom allowed him- 
self to be shoved out of it. If he had the ability to get 
there, he had the ability to stay there. Besides, the 
constant presence of the professors had a tendency to 
stimulate him to do his best. 

“ Speers, I congratulate you on the great promotion 
you have won,” said. Mr. Pelham, breaking in upon the 
silence into which the ship’s company had been sur- 
prised by the mention of the name of Speers in con- 
nection, with so high a position. 

“ I thank you, sir,” replied Tom Speers, bowing and 
blushing. 

Then came the most tumultuous applause from the 
seamen in the waist. One of their own number had 
gone up ; and, though they had no particular sympathy 
with Speers, his elevation indicated that one of the 
present officers would be reduced to the steerage. 
There were enough among them to rejoice at the fall 
of a superior ; for it was quite impossible to repress 
entirely the spirit of envy and jealousy excited by the 
elevation ^of the few above the many. 

This subject had early attracted the attention of Mr. 
Lowington, the principal of the academy squadron ; and 
he had done all he could to moderate and expel the feel- 
ing among the students. But they were all human be- 
ings, subject to the infirmities of the flesh ; and they could 
not be wholly different from the more mature actors on 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 


l 9 


the stage of life. They were fully instructed and warned 
in regard to the effect of cherishing this vicious spirit ; 
but that was all that could be done. The boys were to 
meet and encounter the same circumstances in the 
great world as on board of the vessels of the academy 
fleet ; and they received all the preparation for the 
ordeal it was possible to give them. 

“ That proves that one of us will have to go down,” 
said Blair, while the seamen in the waist were applaud- 
ing the promotion of Speers. 

“ I don’t believe in this thing,” added Richards, with 
no little excitement in his tones and manner. “ Who 
ever heard of such a thing as a fellow in the steerage 
leaping over the heads of all the masters ? ” 

“ It is done ; and it’s no use to talk about it,” con- 
tinued Blair. “ Speers’s marks give him that place, or 
he would not have it.” 

“ There is something wrong about it.” 

“ What can be wrong ? ” 

“ It looks as though the books of the professors had 
been doctored. Didn’t the vice-principal say it was as 
great a surprise to the faculty as to fellows ? ” 

“ That only shows that they have had their eyes 
open ; and, if there was any thing wrong about the 
books, they would have discovered it.” 

“ It would have been easy enough for Speers to alter 
half a dozen figures on the book,” Richards insist- 
ed. 

“ I don’t believe Speers is a fellow of that sort,” 
Blair objected. “ If he had done such a thing, the 
professors could see that the figures had been 
changed.” 


20 ISLES OF THE SEA j OR, 

“ I don’t understand it ; and I can’t explain it in any 
other way,” added Richards, shaking his head. 

“ Second master,” the vice-principal proceeded, 
“ Henry Raymond. He is absent, but the principal 
instructs me to hold his position the same as last 
month.” 

Raymond’s absence was explained, as it was in all 
the vessels of the fleet ; and it was satisfactory to all 
except Ben Pardee and Lon Gibbs, of the “ marines,” 
who had been engaged in an attempt to run away. 
The vice-principal glanced at his list again, and the 
students waited with intense interest for the name of 
the next officer. 

“ Third master,” said he ; and there was another 
long pause. Blair and Richards were holding their 
breath in their anxiety to hear the next name, for there 
were only two chances more for the cabin. 

“ Third master,” repeated the vice-principal, “ Bar- 
clay Lingall.” 

If the name of Tom Speers had produced a sensa- 
tion among the officers and crew, that of Bark Lingall 
made a greater one. Three months before, he had run 
away from the vessel with a fellow so bad that the latter 
was expelled ; and on his return, though he came back 
of his own accord, having been reformed by the influ- 
ence of Raymond while both were absent, his lost 
lessons could not be made up ; and he was given the 
highest number in the vessel, which placed him below 
all the others. From that low position he had sud- 
denly risen to be the third master of the Tritonia. The 
case seemed to be so singular, and so contrary to the 
past experience of the students, that the vice-principal 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 


21 


deemed it necessary to explain it. He took the occa- 
sion to illustrate that almost any student who was 
thoroughly in earnest in his studies could obtain any 
position his ambition coveted. When he saw that 
Lingall was doing so well, he anticipated a high posi- 
tion for him, though not quite so high as he had at- 
tained. 

“ I am disgusted,” said Richards, when one more 
chance had slipped away from him. “ I feel sure that 
the books have been doctored. Two fellows from the 
steerage have got into the cabin.” 

“ And we are about at the end of the rope. Either 
you or I must go down now, and perhaps both of us,” 
replied Blair, shrugging his shoulders. 

“ That’s so ; but I don’t believe we are to be sent 
down by any sort of fair play,” growled Richards. 

“ There is no help for it. I don’t think I did as well 
last month as I should have done if I had supposed 
there was any danger of being shoved out of the 
cabin,” continued Blair frankly. 

“ I have no doubt I could have done better ; but I 
believe now that I have done well enough to keep my 
place.” 

“ What are you going to do about it ? get up a mu- 
tiny?” 

“ I feel like doing something about it.” 

“Wait a minute before you do it,” laughed Blair. 
“You may be all right yet.” 

“ I can’t be any thing better than fourth master, and 
below Speers and Lingall.” 

“ Fourth master,” continued the vice-principal, when 
the excitement of the last announcement had in a 


22 


ISLES OF THE SEA ; OR, 


measure subsided; and then he paused again, not to 
prolong the agony of the students, but to make sure 
that no mistake was made. 

“We shall know all about it in another minute,” said 
Blair ; “ and you will learn whether or not you need go 
on with your mutiny.” 

“ I haven’t said any thing about a mutiny : you said 
that, Blair.” 

“ Mutinies don’t pay in this squadron : besides, we 
shall be homeward bound in a few days,” laughed Blair. 

“ Fourth master, Richards,” read the vice-principal 
from his list. 

“ There you are, Richards ! ” exclaimed Blair. 

“ And you are counted out,” added the new fourth 
master. 

“I am ; but I shall not cry about it. You are an 
officer, and I am a seaman now ; and, if I conclude to 
get up a mutiny at your suggestion, I shall not say any 
thing to you about it.” 

Blair shrugged his shoulders, and, making a merit of 
necessity, he stepped down from the quarter-deck into 
the waist. A few minutes later his name was read as 
one of the highest of the petty officers. There was 
not much consolation in this position, as he was turned 
out of the cabin. 

The rest of the numbers were given out in the order 
of merit. As usual, there was considerable grumbling, 
while not a few were elated over the rank they had 
won. Before noon the officers put on their uniform, 
though two of them were absent. 

Tom Speers in his frock-coat and cap was a good- 
looking officer. He was well received by the other 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 


2 3 


occupants of the cabin, — possibly with the exception of 
Richards, who could not wholly forgive him for getting 
above him. Tom had quite forgotten the telegraphic 
despatch he had received, till he put on his uniform, 
and changed the contents of his pockets into those of 
the new dress. 

He was not much interested in the document : his 
big promotion monopolized all his thoughts. He had 
no time to look at it ; for, as soon as the rank was as- 
signed in the squadron, the signal for sailing appeared 
on the American Prince. When the fleet was under 
way, the second part of the port watch to which Tom 
Speers belonged was off duty, the first part being in 
charge of the vessel. 

O’Hara, the fourth lieutenant, was his associate 
watch officer. The Irish Italian had treated him very 
handsomely from the moment the rank of the new- 
comer into the cabin was announced. They were to 
spend days and nights together in charge of the deck, 
and it was pleasant to be on good terms with each 
other. They had a long talk together as soon as the 
Tritonia was clear of the Bay of Gibraltar. 

While they were thus engaged, Speers took from his 
pocket the telegraph despatch, which got into his hand 
by accident rather than by design. He had been too 
much interested in the conversation with O’Hara to 
think of it before. He took it from his pocket that he 
might not forget it again, and not with the intention of 
opening it in the presence of his companion ; but it 
attracted the attention of the fourth lieutenant. 

“ What have you there, Speers ? ” asked O’Hara. 
“ A letter from home ? We have had no mail in the 
ship for a fortnight.” 


24 ISLES OF THE SEA , DR, 

“ No : it is not a letter,” replied Tom Speers very 
indifferently. 

“ Not a letter? isn’t it in an envelope?” demanded 
O’Hara, more interested in the matter than the owner 
of the document. 

“ It is a telegraph despatch, which was brought to me 
just as all hands were piped to muster this morning.” 

“I hope none of your friends are sick or dead,” 
added the lieutenant, with a show of sympathy. 

“ I have no near friends to die or be sick.” 

“Who sends you the despatch, then?” 

“ I don’t know : I haven’t opened it yet.” 

“ You haven’t ? What is the telegraph for but to 
hurry up things ? and you haven’t opened the envelope 
yet ! ” exclaimed the impulsive young Irishman. 

“ I will open it now,” said Tom, as he broke the 
seal. 

“Faix, you are mighty cool about it,” laughed 
O’Hara. “ Where is it from ? ” 

“ From London. I will read it to you, O’Hara, if 
you will keep it to yourself.” 

“ Oh, no ! I don’t ask to hear what’s in it.” 

“ But I want you to hear it.” 

“Then I will keep your secret.” 

“‘Uncle dead ; letters sent: come to London quick. 

Rodwood.’ ” 


This was the despatch. 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 


*5 


CHAPTER II. 

THE LETTER FROM LONDON. 

“ T THOUGHT you said you had no friends to die or 

1 be sick,” said O’Hara, when Tom Speers had read 
the neglected despatch. 

“ I said I had no near friends,” explained Tom. 

“ Don’t you call your uncle a near friend, especially 
if you have no others ? ” 

“ I should say that would depend upon circumstances. 
I never lived with my uncle, and I never saw a great 
deal of him. He was a very rich man : I have heard 
it said that he was worth five or six millions.” 

“Murder! what an uncle!” exclaimed O’Hara. 
“ Five or six millions ! that’s a power of money. How 
many children had he ? ” 

“ None at all ; not a chick nor a child,” replied Tom, 
amused at the manner of his companion, who always 
indulge^ in the brogue when he was excited. 

“ Howly St. Patrick ! five or six millions of money, 
and not a child in the world ? What has he done with 
it all ? ” 

“I don’t know,” replied Tom coolly. 

u How many brothers and sisters had he ? ” asked 


26 


ISLES OF THE SEA ; OR, 


O’Hara, opening his mouth with the interest he felt in 
the case. 

“ None at all.” 

“ How can he be your uncle, then ? That’s what 
bothers me.” 

“ My father was his only brother and they had no 
sisters. My father died when I was ten years old ; 
and my mother died two years ago, just before I joined 
the academy ship.” 

“ Begorra, then you are the heir of the five or six 
millions ! ” shouted O’Hara, as excited as though all 
the money were coming to him. “ Faix, I’m glad to be 
in the same watch with you ! I shall make it the busi- 
ness of my loife to cultivate your frindship.” 

“ I don’t think it will pay for you to do so, for I never 
saw my uncle a dozen times in my life ; and I am confi- 
dent he has given his money to some other person,” 
answered Tom, laughing at the enthusiasm of his com- 
panion. “ He never did a thing for me, and, what is 
worse, he never did a thing for my mother when she 
needed help ; and so it isn’t likely that he has left any 
of his money for me.” 

“ Whose name is it signed to the despatch ? ” 

“Rodwood; Judge Rodwood. He always was a 
great crony and adviser of my uncle ; and now I sup- 
pose he is the executor or administrator.” 

“ Why should he telegraph to you if your uncle didn’t 
lave you the money ? ” demanded O’Hara warmly. 

“ I don’t know : I may get the letters he sent before 
we sail for home.” 

“ But he says you are to go to London quick ; and I 
shall not have you in my watch, after all.” 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 


2 7 


“ Yes, you will ; for I shall not go to London,” added 
Tom decidedly. 

“ Howly Mother ! not go, when there is five or six 
millions of money waiting for you to put your hand to 
it?” gasped O’Hara. 

“ I don’t know that there is even a single dollar wait- 
ing for me ; and if I knew there were a million I 
wouldn’t go,” answered Tom, laughing at his friend’s 
zeal. 

“You wouldn’t! what are you made of? You are 
cowlder than a frozen brickbat ! What’s the rayson 
you won’t go ? ” inquired the lieutenant. 

“ I’ll tell you why. My father died worth only about 
five thousand dollars. My mother kept this money for 
me ; and she took care of me with only an income of 
three hundred and fifty dollars a year. She asked my 
uncle for a little help, and he took no notice of her let- 
ter. This was a year before she died, and she wanted 
to send me to college. Then she went to see him, 
thinking he might not have got the letter. He put her 
off for a time ; but he finally told her he would do 
nothing for her. I never went to see him after that, 
though he often sent for me. He did not like my 
mother, and he never invited her to his house. 

“ After my mother died, I made up my mind that I 
wanted to go to sea, and work my way up to be captain 
of a ship. My mother’s brother was my guardian, and 
he consented to use my little fortune in paying my ex- 
penses in this institution. Now I am here ; and I have 
just got waked up as I never was before. At one 
bound, I have become first master of the Tritonia. I 
like the berth ; and I am going to do a great deal bet- 


28 


ISLES OF THE SEA j OR, 


ter than I have yet. Now, do you think I will leave 
this high place in the vessel at the call of one I don’t 
care a straw about? I never even saw Judge Rod- 
wood, though I have heard enough about him.” 

“ He may be your guardian under the will.” 

“ I don’t care if he is : I have only one guardian 
that I know any thing about, and that’s my uncle on 
my mother’s side. I like this situation too well to leave 
it,” continued Tom, independent as a basket of chips. 

“ But the money ? ” suggested O’Hara. 

“ I don’t know that my rich uncle has left me any 
money ; and, in fact, I don’t care if he has. I have not 
quite forgiven him for refusing to help my mother.” 

“ You might take his money, whether you forgive him 
or not.” 

- “Now he is dead, I am willing to forgive him ; but I 
don’t ask any favors of him or his estate.” 

“ Faix, you are moighty indepindint.” 

“I love the Tritonia with all my heart just now; 
and I wouldn’t leave her for filthy lucre any more than 
I would cast off the girl that loved me for it. Judge 
Rodwood is a great boatman, and has a steam yacht, 
though I believe my uncle owned it ; so that I might 
have a chance to go to sea in good shape if I went to 
him. But I like my place on board this vessel better ; 
and I mean to stay here as long as I can. I have told 
you all about my affairs, O’Hara ; and now you will not 
blow on me, will you ? ” 

“ Faix, I won’t, thin ! Not a word shall pass my 
lips,” protested the warm-hearted Irishman. 

“ If the vice-principal should see this message, or 
hear of it, he would tell Mr. Lowington ; and he might 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 


2 9 


make me go to London, whether I am willing or not,” 
added Tom rather anxiously. 

“ I’m sure he would make you go to London for your 
own good. But not a word will I spake till I have 
your permission to do so.” 

“ Thank you, O’Hara : I am sure we shall be good 
friends.” 

“ You may bet your life on that ! You are a broth 
of a boy, with five or six millions, more or less, in your 
trousers-pocket ; and you may depind upon it, I’ll stick 
to you like a brother,” said O’Hara, with a wild laugh. 

“ Don’t consider me an heir till we have further 
information. But we were very good friends before I 
read this message to you.” 

“ Faix, we were ! ” 

The conversation was continued till the two officers 
were called to attend to their duties, when the first part 
of the watch was relieved. The following week was 
spent at Seville, and then the squadron returned to 
Gibraltar. The vessels had hardly anchored before 
Mr. Lowington’s agent came off with a mail for the 
students and others on board. There was a letter for 
Tom Speers. 

He put it into his pocket without stopping to read it, 
though not till he had seen that the post-mark was 
London. This was the letter alluded to in the tele- 
graphic despatch ; and doubtless it contained full par- 
ticulars of the death of his uncle, and an explanation 
of the reason why he was summoned to London. Tom 
was not inclined to read it, for he did not wish to be 
told of any thing that would call him away from the 
Tritonia. His ambition was thoroughly aroused, and 


30 


ISLES OF THE SEA j OR, 


he was resolved to win the highest position in the 
vessel. 

All who had received letters from home were busy 
reading them, and the discipline of the squadron was 
sufficiently relaxed to permit them to do so without 
interruption ; but Tom Speers put his letter into his 
pocket. O’Hara had news from home, and he was busy 
digesting it, so that he could not speak to him about 
his affairs. He felt the need of counsel, while he 
dreaded to receive it lest it should oblige him to aban 
don the Tritonia and the brilliant hopes of the fu 
ture. 

Perhaps his uncle had left him a fortune, for there 
were a dozen fortunes in the vast pile of wealth the 
dead man had left behind him. It was even probable, 
in Tom’s estimation, that he had done so, for he had 
been named after his uncle ; and, if he did not care for 
his nephew, he might desire to have his name live after 
he could no longer bear it except upon the costly mon- 
ument that marked his last resting-place. The young 
man felt no deep affection for his uncle, and had no 
great respect for his memory. A few thousands given 
to his mother while she was pinching herself to bring 
up her boy would have been better than as many hun- 
dred thousands to him now that she was gone. 

Tom felt that he was alone in the world, and he had 
only to look out for himself. While he cherished no 
spite or ill-will towards his departed uncle, he did not 
quite like the idea of being made a rich man by his 
bounty. He was very proud and independent ; and to 
accept a fortune from his uncle, seemed almost like 
treachery to his mother. It was the sentimentalism of 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 3 1 

the young man, which a few years of contact with the 
world would obliterate. 

The letter from Judge Rodwood was in his pocket, 
and it seemed to burn there. He was curious to know 
its contents, but he did not wish to be influenced by 
any thing it might contain. He did not like to be 
tempted by wealth to give up his present ambitious 
prospects. He thought every minute, as he looked at 
his shipmates reading their letters from home, that he 
would open the one from the judge ; but he did not. 
He sat upon the quarter-deck, gazing listlessly at all 
the objects in sight, from the lofty rock bristling with 
guns and batteries, to the scenes which were transpir- 
ing on board of the schooner ; but he could not decide 
to do any thing to settle the present problem of exist- 
ence. 

He had made up his mind to be a sailor. He had 
longed for a “ life on the ocean wave ” since he was 
a small boy, and read the tales of the sea ; but his 
devotion to his mother did not permit him to mention 
the subject after he had observed her shudder when 
he alluded to it for the first and last time. But he had 
dreamed, all the time, of roaming the seas, and visit- 
ing the distant lands of the earth. He had put him- 
self in the way to realize these visions as soon as he 
had in a measure recovered from the deep grief occa- 
sioned by the death of his mother. Now, when he had 
almost reached the pinnacle of his hopes, came this 
command of his uncle’s executor — as he supposed the 
judge was — to abandon his delightful mission. 

But Judge Rodwood was not his guardian, so far as 
he knew ; and he was not willing to recognize his right 


32 


ISLES OF THE SEA ; OR, 


to order him to London. Perry Bowman, his mother’s 
brother, was all the guardian he could recognize. This 
gentleman had possession of his little fortune, or what 
was left of it ; for his expenses in the academy squadron 
had already absorbed a considerable portion of the 
principal, besides the income. 

While he was thinking of the subject, unable to 
come to a decision in regard to the letter, which he 
was confident was a repetition of the order for him to 
hasten to London, he saw a boat leave the American 
Prince, and pull first to the Josephine, and then to 
the Tritonia. The officer in charge of it delivered 
a note to each vice-principal, and then returned to the 
steamer, which was still taking in coal at the station. 

All the preparation for the voyage among “ The Isles 
of the Sea ” had been completed on board of the two 
consorts. All the water-tanks and spare casks had 
been filled with water, and an abundance of fresh and 
salt provisions had been taken on board. The com- 
passes had been adjusted, and the chronometers had 
been regulated ; and every thing was in readiness for 
sailing at a moment’s notice, though the steamer would 
not have received all her coal till after dark. 

The boat which brought the note had hardly returned 
to the flag-ship before the signal for sailing appeared 
at the mainmast of the Tritonia. Word was passed 
along among the officers, that the two schooners would 
sail at ten, leaving the American Prince to follow in 
the evening. 

“ We are off in ten minutes,” said O’Hara, disturb- 
ing the meditations of Tom Speers, as soon as the 
news had been circulated among the students. 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 


33 


“ I am not sorry that we are not to wait all day in 
port for the steamer,” replied Tom. “ You have had 
letters from home, O’Hara. I hope your friends are 
all well.” 

“ First class,” replied the fourth lieutenant. “ And 
did you get the letters from London of which you were 
advised in the despatch ? ” 

“ I got one letter, but it is a very thick one, and very 
likely the envelope contains two or three of them.” 

“ Well, what is it all about ? How much money has 
your uncle left you ? ” asked O’Hara glibly, but with 
deep interest manifested in his bright eyes. 

“ I don’t know : I haven’t opened the letter yet,” 
replied Tom, with a smile. 

“ Haven’t opened it ! ” exclaimed the lieutenant, 
holding up both hands in amazement. “ Upon my 
sowl, you are a lunatic, Speers ! you haven’t a head 
upon your shoulders at all, at all ! ” 

“ Now, I think I have,” added Tom, laughing 
heartily at the earnestness of his companion. “ Did 
you open your letters ? ” 

“ To be sure I did.” 

“ Why did you open them ? ” 

“ Why did I open them ? Howly Mother, what a 
question! Why did I open them? To see what was 
in them. What else would I open them for ? ” 

“ For nothing else. You wanted to know what was 
in them ; and the right thing for you to do was to open 
them. I don’t want to know what is in mine ; and for 
that reason I don’t open them. Isn’t my way of doing 
it just as sensible as yours ? ” demanded Tom, satisfied 
>vith his logic. 


34 


ISLES OF THE SEA j OR, 


“ You don’t want to know what is in them ! By the 
powers, that’s the rayson why you are a lunatic ! I 
don’t know but I ought to report you to the vice-prin- 
cipal before we sail, that you may have proper medical 
tratement before we get out of the raych of the 
docther.” 

“ Don’t do that, if you please, O’Hara,” said Tom 
earnestly. “ T told you the reason why I did not wish 
to be sent to London.” 

“ Never you fear. Sure, it’s joking I was. I 
wouldn’t mutther the first taste of a sound to bother 
you ; but, upon my sowl, you are the quayrest boy I 
ever met in the whole course of my life. You don’t 
care a straw how much money your rich uncle has left 
you ! ” 

“ I don’t think I do. If he had given my poor 
mother a hundredth part of his big fortune when she 
was alive, 1 would have blessed his memory, and 
heeded his slightest wish, alive or dead.” 

“ Then the executor of your uncle must go down on 
his knees, and beg you to take the fortune he has left 
you ! ” exclaimed the lieutenant. “ If you don’t want 
it yourself, take the money, and hand it over to the 
poor, myself among the number.” 

“ I suppose I shall take whatever my uncle has left 
me ; and I shall try to make a good use of it. But 
when I came into the academy squadron, I had made 
up my mind that I would be the architect of my own 
fortunes. I came here to learn the arts of seamanship 
and navigation as the means to earn my own living. I 
don’t feel like turning away from my plan yet. I love 
the sea.” 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 


35 


“ But with all the money your uncle will leave you, 
can’t you sail all over the world in your own yacht; 
and that yacht a steamer like the American Prince, or 
a full-rigged ship like the Young America ? What are 
you talking about ? ” 

“But I want to finish my course in the Tritonia; 
and, if you won’t laugh at me, I mean to be the captain 
of her before she reaches the shores of the United 
States,” said Tom, with enthusiasm. 

“ Oh, murther ! is that what’s the matter wid you ? ” 
ejaculated O’Hara, with a laugh. “ I had that same 
fayver; and, when I first got into the Tritonia, I 
said to myself that I would be the captain of her in 
six months ; and now it’s more than a year I’m in her, 
and I’m only fourth lieutenant.” 

“ If I fail, I fail ; but I shall do all I can to win the 
position.” 

“ But don’t be a lunatic any longer! Open the let- 
ter, and see what’s the matter. Faix I’m dying with 
curiosity to know what’s in it,” continued the lieuten- 
ant. 

“ One reason why I did not open it before was that 
I wanted to talk with you about it ; for I believe you 
are the b-’st friend I have in the ship,” said Tom ear- 
nestly ; for he had a great admiration for his fellow r 
watch-officer. 

“Thank you for that. Upon my sowl, I think you 
are a good fellow, if you are a lunatic on the letter. 
Take the advice of your best friend on board, and see 
what’s in that envelope immejitly.” 

“ I will, since you advise it,” replied Tom, taking the 
letter from his pocket. 


36 


ISLES OF THE SEA ; OR, 


While O’Hara was glancing at the superscription, the 
boatswain’s whistle sounded through the ship. 

“ All hands, up anchor ! ” shouted that officer, after 
he had piped the call. 

Tom Speers grasped the letter, and returned it to his 
pocket. At the next instant he was at his station, for 
with his lofty ambition he could not afford to be the 
last in his place. The first lieutenant was in position 
on the quarter-deck, with the speaking-trumpet in his 
hand, though it was an emblem of authority, rather 
than a useful implement in a quiet time. 

“ Man the capstan ! ” said this high official, in mod- 
erate tones, considering the magnitude of the position 
he filled. 

The order was repeated by the other officers till it 
came to the forecastle. Every seaman knew precisely 
what he was to do in the operation of weighing the 
anchor ; and in a moment the bars were shipped and 
swiftered. All hands were then in position, and wait- 
ing for the next order. 

“ Heave around ! Heave in the cable to a short 
stay ! ” added the first lieutenant ; and the order went 
forward as before. 

The first master had been directed to inform him 
when the cable had the proper scope, which had been 
indicated to him. 

“ Avast heaving ! ” said Tom Speers. “ Cable at a 
short stay, sir,” he added to the first lieutenant. 

“ Pawl the capstan ! Unship the bars ! ” continued 
the executive officer. 

The cable was well stoppered, or secured where it 
was. About three-fourths of the whole of the cable 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 


37 


which had been run out was hauled in by the opera- 
tions described. The wind was moderate in the har- 
bor, and only enough was now out to hold the vessel 
while the rest of the preparations were made for getting 
under way. The part out was “ up and down,” and a 
few turns of the capstan would have lifted the anchor 
clear of the bottom. 

The length of cable used in anchoring, or in holding 
the vessel at a short stay, requires the exercise of dis- 
cretion and judgment ; but the young officers were 
required to determine for themselves all these ques- 
tions. The harder it blows, or the swifter the tide, the 
greater the scope of cable needed. It is true, the adult 
boatswain was always on hand to see that the work 
was properly done on the forecastle ; and the vice- 
principal, who was the only adult seaman in the cabin, 
closely observed the manoeuvres made ; but they never 
interfered, unless the safety of the vessel required them 
to do so. If the young officers were at fault, they 
were criticised afterwards, when the crew were not 
present. 

“ Stations for loosing sail ! ” said the first lieutenant, 
when the cable was at a short stay. 

The fore-topsail was shaken out, the foresail and 
mainsail were set ; and the order was given to man 
the jib and flying-jib halyards, and to ship the capstan 
bars again. 

“ Anchor a-weigh, sir ! ” reported the first master on 
the forecastle. 

Tom Speers saw that the anchor was clear of the 
bottom when the hands at the capstan had heaved a 
few turns. 


3 » 


ISLES OF THE SEA ; OR, 


“ Let go the downhauls, and hoist away ! ” added 
the executive officer ; and at the order up went the jib 
and flying-jib. 

The wind was about north, and the sails were 
trimmed as they filled. As soon as the Tritonia was 
fairly under way, her fore-topmast-staysail, fore-top- 
gallant-sail, and main-gaff-topsail were set. At the 
same time the order was given to cat and fish the an- 
chor, or hoist it up to the cat-head, and then put it in 
its usual position when the vessel was at sea. 

As the beautiful craft swung around, and the breeze 
filled her sails, ringing cheers came from the shore and 
from the men-of-war in the harbor ; all of which were 
returned with vigor by the young tars. With the wind 
on the beam, the two schooners stood out of the bay, 
and in a short time were passing through the Strait of 
Gibraltar.. As they went out into the broad ocean, the 
wind freshened till they were making ten knots an 
hour. It was study time for the port-watch, and Tom 
had no chance yet to read his letter. 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 


39 


CHAPTER III. 

AN APPROACHING SQUALL. 

T HE port-watch were on duty from twelve till four 
in the afternoon ; but the second part had their 
off time for the first two hours. The Tritonia was 
jumping at a lively pace in the white-capped sea, headed 
west, a quarter south. O’Hara had been impatiently 
waiting for this time to come to dive into the mysteries 
of that London letter. He was more anxious to know 
the contents of the envelope than Tom was. 

As soon as the starboard watch had piped to dinner, 
the fourth lieutenant led the way to a place on the lee- 
side of the quarter-deck where they could be alone. 
Tom produced the important letter, and broke the seal. 
As he had surmised, it contained two other letters, one 
of them addressed to Mr. Lowington, the principal of 
the squadron, and the other in the handwriting of his 
maternal uncle. 

“ Sure, you can’t deliver that one to Mr. Lowington 
now,” said O’Hara, looking back to the distant land 
which would soon be out of sight. 

“ I am not anxious to deliver it ; for I can guess the 
substance of what it contains,” replied Tom. 


40 


ISLES OF THE SEA ; OR, 


“ Well, what’s in the letter from London?” asked 
the lieutenant impatiently. 

Tom Speers unfolded the sheet. It was a brief busi- 
ness-like document, hardly covering a page of the paper, 
though written in a very open hand. It was dated on 
board steam-yacht Marian, at Southampton, though it 
had been mailed in London. 

Thomas Speers, the millionnaire uncle of the first 
master, had died six weeks before. He had given about 
half of his immense fortune to charitable institutions, 
and the other half to his nephew. Judge Rod wood 
was appointed guardian and trustee, so far as this 
property was concerned. The judge had come to 
England in his steam-yacht in order that he might 
follow the academy squadron, if, as he feared, it had 
left Europe on its return voyage to America. 

“ Give me your hand, Speers ! ; ’ said O’Hara with 
enthusiasm. “ I was dead sure your uncle had made a 
millionnaire of you !•” 

“ I was rather afraid he had,” replied Tom moodily, 
as he glanced at the letter again. “ He gives me no 
particulars of the death of my uncle, or in relation to 
the fortune.” 

1 Upon my sowl, you are the quarist mortal that iver 
came into the world, or will iver go out of it after'get- 
ting quare in it. You are afraid your uncle has made 
a millionnaire of you ! Where is your gratitude ? ” 

“ I don’t carry it in my trousers-pocket. The whole 
of it is, O’Hara, I am too much interested in the voyage 
of the Tritonia to care much about the contents of this 
letter. I have just become an officer, and I don’t want 
to give up my position.” 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 


41 


“I understand that; but what’s the use of running 
away from the fortune that is waiting for you ? ” 

“ I don’t intend to run away from it. I think it will 
keep till the Tritonia returns to the United States.” 

“ Another of those letters is addressed to you. Will 
you leave that till to-morrow before you open it ? ” 

“ Not at all. This one is from my uncle, Perry Bow- 
man ; and I am always glad to hear from him,” replied 
Tom, as he opened the letter. “ ‘ Wonderful news for you, 
my dear boy,’ ” continued the first master, reading from 
the letter : “ ‘ your uncle is dead, and has left you at least 
three millions of dollars : so much forbearing his name, 
for he wanted to preserve it after he was gone. You 
are to have the income of your money till you are 
twenty-five, and then a million every five years till you 
get the whole of it into your own hands. I have 
resigned my guardianship of you in favor of Judge Rod- 
wood. I offered to pay over to him about four thousand 
dollars in my hands ; but he declined to take it till you 
had formally named him as your guardian, as you have 
the right to do, so far as personal care is concerned. 
He advised me to pay over the money to you at once ; 
and I send you a letter of credit for the amount. You 
may want it more before you get home than after- 
wards.’ ” 

“ Howly St. Patrick ! ” exclaimed O’Hara, as Tom 
opened the valuable document alluded to. “ You are 
measly with money.” 

“ That paper will be convenient, wherever I happen 
to be,” said Tom, with a smile, as he put the letter of 
credit into his pocket-book. “ I could have made a 
better use of it six months ago than I can now. I was 


42 


ISLES OF THE SEA ; OR, 


poor as a church-mouse then, when most qf the fellows 
were made of money.” 

“ You can buy them all out now,” added O’Hara. 
“ Now, what are you going to do about this business, 
my lad ? ” 

“ I can’t do any thing now : it is too late for me to 
go to London,” replied Tom with a smile. 

“ I see you are satisfied with the matter as it is.” 

“ I am.” 

“ But Judge Rodwood is over here in his steam-yacht 
for the purpose of following the squadron, if he don’t 
find it in European waters,” added the lieutenant. 

“ I am willing he should follow it.” 

“When he begins to look into the matter, anybody 
in Gibraltar can tell him the fleet has gone to Madeira ; 
and all he has to do is to follow you.” 

“ I don’t object.” 

“ Of course you don’t ; but when he finds you, he 
will take you out of the vessel.” 

“ I don’t believe he will, if I am not ready to leave 
her. Don’t my uncle Perry say I have the right to 
name my own guardian ? if the judge don’t do the right 
thing, I will not consent to name him as my guardian. 
But when I tell him I prefer to stay in the Tritonia, if 
he is a reasonable man, as I think he is, he will not 
object.” 

“ But you are not doing the right thing yourself, my 
boy,” protested O’Hara. “ What kind of a way was it 
to put a telegraphic despatch in your pocket, and not 
open it ? And what kind of a way was it to lave your 
letter unopened till it was too late to do what you were 
told by your guardian ? Don’t your uncle Perry tell 
you to come home as soon as ever you can ? ” 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 


43 


“ He has resigned as my guardian ; and the other 
one has not been properly appointed,” said Tom, laugh- 
ing at his own ingenuity in devising an excuse. 

“ How do you know what’s in the letter to Mr. Low- 
ington ? ” demanded the lieutenant. 

“ I have no doubt it contains an order for my dis- 
charge from the academy squadron,” replied Tom. “I 
would deliver it, if the principal were only here ; for I 
have no right to keep his letters back, whatever I do 
with my own.” 

“ I think you had better give the letter to the vice- 
principal.” 

“ I am willing to do that.” 

“ I am afraid the powers that be will blame you for 
not opening the letter before we sailed,” continued 
O’Hara. 

“ I am willing to bear the blame for what I have 
done,” replied Tom ; and, seeing the vice-principal 
coming up from the cabin, he delivered the letter to 
him as he reached the deck. 

“ Where did you get this ? ” asked Mr. Pelham, sur- 
prised to see a sealed letter to the principal so soon 
after leaving port. 

“ It was in a letter to me, which I did not open till 
just now,” replied Tom. 

“ And why didn’t you open it before the ship sailed ? ” 
demanded Mr. Pelham, quite as much astonished as 
the fourth lieutenant had been. 

“ I didn’t care to open it, sir,” answered Tom, won- 
dering how he could get out of the scrape without tell- 
ing the whole truth. 

“ That is very strange.” 


44 


ISLES OF THE SEA ; OR, 


“ I had some idea of what the letter contained,” 
added Tom, with a smile. 

“ And that was the reason you didn’t open it ? ” 

“I was not interested in it.” 

“ There seems to be something under all this, 
Speers,” continued the vice-principal, looking into the 
honest face of the young man. “ What is it ? ” 

“ A telegraph-despatch, sir,” replied Tom, handing 
the document to Mr. Pelham. 

Tom found, after due consideration, that there was 
no way out of the scrape ; and he explained the whole 
matter in full. 

“ I don’t care to have my shipmates know about this, 
sir,” said Tom, when he had told the whole story. 

“ It is your private affair, and you have a right to 
keep it to yourself if you choose,” replied Mr. Pelham ; 
“and I shall respect your wishes.” 

“ I have told O’Hara about it, but no one else.” 

“ But it cannot be long concealed that we have a mil- 
lionnaire on board,” added the vice-principal, laughing. 
“ Judge Rodwood will follow the squadron to Madeira.” 

“ When I see him I hope he will permit me to re- 
main in the Tritonia ; and till that time I don’t care to 
have any thing said.” 

“ Very well. But I think you ought to have opened 
your letter before the vessel sailed. It was hardly 
treating Judge Rodwood with proper respect, to take no 
notice of his telegraphic despatch.” 

“ Perhaps it was not, sir ; but I did not know what 
to do. I suppose the whole of it is, that I didn’t want 
to leave the vessel ; and I was afraid if I answered the 
despatch, or opened the letters, I might have to go,” 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 


45 


pleaded Tom honestly. “ I have no doubt that letter 
to Mr. Lowington contains a request for my dis- 
charge.” 

“ Probably it does ; but I don’t see that any thing 
can be done about it now. The vessel is almost out of 
sight of land,” said Mr. Pelham, smiling ; and he looked 
as though he rather sympathized with the first master in 
the trials and tribulations cast upon him by his coming 
fortune. “ I will consult with Mr. Fluxion, who is my 
senior in rank, as soon as possible ; though the sea is 
rather too heavy just now to communicate with the 
Josephine, except in a case of emergency.” 

“ I am in no hurry to have any thing done,” replied 
Tom, laughing and shrugging his shoulders. 

“ The last log gave us ten knots, and the wind is 
increasing. At this rate we may get to Madeira before 
the American Prince overhauls us,” added the vice- 
principal. 

“ I am willing,” chuckled Tom. 

Mr. Pelham descended to the steerage to resume his 
duties as instructor in navigation. Tom was very well 
satisfied with the result of his interview, and joined 
O’Hara on the lee side of the vessel. His position was 
safe, for the present at least ; and he hoped Judge Rod- 
wood would be reasonable enough to allow him to com- 
plete his course in the academy squadron. 

“ Well, my boy, did you get a black eye from the 
vice ? ” asked O’Hara, who had been watching the 
conference with the most intense interest. 

“ Not a bit of it : Mr. Pelham knows how it is him- 
self, and he behaved very handsomely,” replied Tom 
cheerfully. 


46 


ISLES OF THE SEA ; OR, 


“ I suppose the news will be all over the ship now 
before the dog-watches are out,” added O’Hara. 

“ Three of us have the secret now ; and I think we 
are strong enough to keep it.” 

“ Then it can’t be kept.” 

“ If you keep a stopper on your jaw-tackle, O’Hara, 
it will be safe till Judge Rodwood arrives at Madeira, 
though I am not without a hope that we shall be gone 
when he comes.” 

“That is your little game, is it?” 

“There is no game about it. It is only a hope I 
have; and I shall do nothing wrong about it.” 

“Of course you won’t do any thing wrong : you are 
not the fellow for that,” added O’Hara, with a little 
taste of Irish blarney. 

“I am not so high-toned as Raymond; but, if I intend 
to be captain of this vessel, of course I can’t afford to 
be on the wrong side of any question ; for it is a 
matter of marks as well as of morality,” replied Tom, 
with a laugh. 

The matter was settled, for the present at least, so 
far as the student was concerned. But the vice-princi- 
pal was not quite satisfied with the situation. The 
letter to Mr. Lowington ought to have been delivered 
before the vessel left Gibraltar. It might contain 
something more than an application for the discharge 
of the first master. He was very anxious to consult 
with the senior vice-principal ; and, as soon as the reci- 
tation he had in hand was finished, he went on deck to 
take a look at the weather. 

The quarter-watch had been changed, and O’Hara 
and Tom Speers were in charge of the deck. They 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 


47 


had no opportunity to converse together now, for it 
was contrary to the rule for officers on duty to do any 
unnecessary talking. But they noticed the nervous 
manner of the vice-principal as he looked up to wind- 
ward. The wind had been increasing since the Trito- 
nia sailed in the forenoon. Though it still looked 
squally and threatening, as it had for the last three 
hours, there seemed to be a brief lull in the force of 
the wind, though the barometer was falling. 

The Josephine was abreast of theTritonia; for the 
two vessels were very equally matched, though each had 
its peculiar advantage in different points. The former 
could hug the wind a little closer, and the latter could 
gain a trifle on the other going free. Each ship’s 
company bragged of its own craft, because each 
had got a little ahead of the other on its best 
course. 

“ Signal on the Josephine, sir,” reported the lookout 
on the weather cat-head. 

“Signal on the Josephine, Mr. O’Hara,” repeated 
the first master in the waist. 

“ Call the signal-officer,” added the fourth lieuten- 
ant. 

The box containing the signals was opened; glasses 
were in demand ; and the signal which the Josephine 
displayed was promptly examined. 

“Do you make it out, Mr. Lingall?” asked O’Hara, 
rather impatiently, for it was an unusual thing for one 
vessel of the squadron to communicate with another 
under like circumstances. 

“‘Have you any’” — replied Lingall, who was the 
signal-officer, and who had carefully studied his duties 


ISLES OF THE SEA ; OR, 


since his unexpected promotion. “ Reply that the 
signal is understood, quartermaster.” 

The proper flag was set, whereupon the Josephine 
began to display single letters, indicating that the 
article for which she desired to ask was not contained 
in the signal code. The process was slow, but it was 
sure in the end. 

“ How far have you got? ” asked O’Hara. 

“ C-h-l-o,” replied Lingall. 

“ By the powers, you have made a mistake, Mr. Lin- 
gall ! ” said the fourth lieutenant, with a laugh. 

“ I think not, sir : I take down each letter as it 
comes,” replied Lingall. 

“You have misplaced the letters: it is c-h-o-1 they 
mean ; and they want to ask if we have the c-h-o-l-i-c, 
colic.” 

“ I think not, sir ; for I don’t believe that is the 
way they spell 4 colic ’ on board of the Josephine,” 
added Lingall, with a smile, and not quite sure that it 
was prudent to expose the blunder of his supe- 
rior. 

“ Faix, you have me there ! I see you have learned 
your spelling-lesson well, Mr. Lingall.” 

“ 4 R,’ ” continued the signal-officer, adding another 
letter to the unfinished word. 

44 Chlor,” said O’Hara. 44 That’s not a nautical 
word, to be sure.” 

“No: it looks more like a medical term,” added Mr. 
Pelham, who had joined the group gathered around the 
signal officer. 

44 4 O,’ ” continued Lingall, as another letter was in- 
dicated. 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 


49 


“ Chloro : that must be chloroform. The professors 
on board are going to perform a surgical operation.” 

“ I think not : there is no doctor on board of the 
Josephine,” added Mr. Pelham. 

“ It must be some doctor’s stuff,” persisted the fourth 
lieutenant. 

“ If you are patient for a few moments longer, you 
will not be under the necessity of guessing what is 
wanted. I am satisfied the word is chlorodyne,” said 
the vice-principal. 

“ Chlorodyne ! ” exclaimed O’Hara. “ Is that a 
rope, or something to eat ? ” 

“ Neither : it is a medicine with which all the ves- 
sels of the squadron are provided ; and I have had 
occasion to administer it several times.” 

“ If it’s physic I’ve nothing to say ; but if there is a 
rope in the ship that I don’t know, I feel guilty,” said 
O’Hara, with a mock sigh of relief. 

“ ‘ D,’ ” continued Lingall, taking down the next 
letter of the word. 

“ That’s enough,” interposed Mr. Pelham. “ The 
article -wanted is chlorodyne ; reply ‘ understood,’ — 
yes.” 

This signal was transmitted, for the Tritonia had an 
abundant supply of the medicine named ; and Mr. 
Pelham wondered how the Josephine happened to be 
out of the article, since it was Dr. Winstock’s favorite 
remedy in all cases of colic or severe pain in the 
bowels. 

“ Heave to, and w^ait for a boat,” was the next mes- 
sage interpreted from the signals. 

The signal was duly reported to the captain, who 


50 ISLES OF THE SEA ; OR, 

was studying his lessons in the cabin. He directed the 
officer of the deck to obey the order, which was regard- 
ed as coming from the senior vice-principal. Simulta- 
neously the two vessels came up into the wind, backing 
their fore-topsails. 

Mr. Pelham went down into the cabin as soon as 
the Tritonia was brought to ; but he returned in a few 
moments, wearing his pea-jacket. 

“ This will afford me an opportunity to consult with 
the senior vice-principal in regard to* your matter, 
Speers,” said Mr. Pelham to the first master in the 
waist. 

“ I hope we shall not be ordered back,” replied Tom, 
not a little annoyed at the prospect. 

“ I think there is no danger of that, Speers ; but I 
feel obliged to make the case known to Mr. Fluxion : 
he will at least share the responsibility with me,” 
replied Mr. Pelham. 

Tom felt easier after this assurance. The vessel 
pitched very heavily in the sea when she was hove to ; 
and, if the junior vice-principal had any doubt about 
the propriety of leaving the Tritonia at such a time, 
he did not express it to any one on board. Certainly 
the indications of the weather, as gathered from the 
barometer and the appearance of the heavens, were 
any thing but favorable. 

The second cutter of the Josephine was hoisted out 
with its crew on board. The fact that the adult boat- 
swain was sent in the boat, in addition to the usual 
crew, seemed to indicate that Mr. Fluxion would not 
send the boat unless he considered the occasion an 
emergency. It was probable that one of the students 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 


51 


in the vessel was very sick, and that Mr. Fluxion 
believed the weather was better now than it was likely 
to be for some hours to come. 

The cutter from the Josephine cast off from the 
schooner. The young oarsmen gave way with a will, 
and the boat began to rise and to plunge into the 
heavy sea. The two vessels were not more than a 
couple of cable-lengths apart ; but the passage from 
one to the other occupied a considerable time. 

The officer of the cutter skilfully brought his boat 
under the lee of the Tritonia. It was a perilous posi- 
tion, and it was in great danger of being dashed to 
pieces against the counter of the vessel. A rope Was 
thrown to the bowman, who promptly secured it, and 
made it fast by catching a turn over the fore thwart. 

The first master of the Josephine, who was in charge 
of the cutter, was a lithe little fellow ; and, taking to 
the rope as a cat runs up a tree, he climbed to the deck 
of the Tritonia in the twinkling of an eye. 

“ That was well done, Mr. Pepper,” said Mr. Pelham 
when the little officer stood before him, drenched to 
the skin by the seas that had broken over him. “ You 
want chlorodyne.” 

“ Yes, sir : we had a large bottle of it, but the stew- 
ard dropped it on the floor of the steerage, and spilled 
the whole of it,” replied Mr. Pepper. “ Boyle is very 
sick with colic, or something of that sort ; and Mr. 
Fluxion has no proper medicine for him.” 

“ I shall go on board of the Josephine with you ; 
and I have the bottle in my pocket,” added the junior 
vice-principal, as he slid down the rope into the Jose- 
phine’s cutter. 


5 2 


ISLES OF THE SEA ; OR, 


Mr. Pepper followed him, and the boat pulled back. 
As it was evident that she must return to the Tritonia, 
she was brought up under the counter of the Josephine. 
Mr. Pelham was the first to board the vessel. 

“ I am surprised that you should leave your charge, 
Pelham,” said the senior vice-principal anxiously, and 
in a low tone, as his junior presented himself on the 
deck. 

It took Mr. Pelham five minutes to tell the story of 
Tom Speers as briefly as it could be told. 

“ Never mind Speers or his letters,” said Mr. Flux- 
ion impatiently. “ Return to the Tritonia at once ! ” 

It was too late. A fearful squall was driving down 
upon the two vessels. 





YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 


53 


CHAPTER IV. 

A VESSEL IN DISTRESS. 

M R. PELHAM saw that he had made a mistake 
in leaving the Tritonia at such a time, though he 
would not have thought of doing so if the senior vice- 
principal had not sent the boat. But it was a case of 
severe sickness which had induced his superior to send 
out a boat in such a sea. The squall, which might 
prove to be a hurricane, was already roaring in the 
distance. In a moment more it would break upon 
the vessels. 

“ Get your boat in quick ! ” said Mr. Fluxion to the 
officer of the deck, in sharp tones, though not loud 
enough to be heard by the seamen. “ Call all hands ! ” 
At the same moment the senior vice-principal seized 
the speaking-trumpet in the hands of the officer of the 
deck, and, leaping into the main rigging, shouted, — 

“ Fill away ! fill away ! ” 

Whether, in the roar of the tempest, the officer in 
charge of the Tritonia heard him or not, the vessel 
immediately filled away. O’Hara was too good a sailor 
to be caught napping at such a time. He had sent for 
the captain as soon as he saw the squall coming ; and, 
as this was a case of emergency in which the officer 


54 


ISLES OF THE SEA ; OR, 


of the deck was authorized to act without waiting for 
orders, he had braced up the fore-yards on his own 
responsibility. 

Capt. Wainwright came on deck before the schooner 
was fairly under way again. All hands were called, the 
lessons of the professors in the steerage were promptly 
abandoned, and almost in the twinkling of an eye the 
canvas was reduced to a storm staysail. 

The Josephine had a bigger problem to solve: the 
officer of the deck sent for Capt. Vroome, but, without 
waiting for his coming, ordered the cutter to be hauled 
under the lee of the schooner ; and it was hoisted up 
at the davits, carefully secured, and swung inboard. 

As soon as the boat was clear of the water, the fore- 
braces were manned, and the yards trimmed, the vessel 
filling away as this was done. The orders came very 
rapidly from the first lieutenant for a moment ; but 
they were executed as fast as they were given, and the 
vessel was soon under the same short canvas as the 
Tritonia. 

The squall came down upon the little squadron, and 
the vessels reeled under it. But this was one of the 
emergencies which the students, especially the officers, 
of the academy squadron, had been faithfully trained to 
meet. The ships’ companies had executed the manoeu- 
vre just completed, hundreds of times, in still water 
and at sea in a fresh breeze. 

Though the fury of the squall lasted but a short time, 
it was succeeded by a severe gale, which had been suffi- 
ciently prognosticated by the barometer and the aspect 
of the heavens. When the first fierceness of the tem- 
pest had somewhat abated, the Josephine set her fore- 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 


55 


sail, close reefed, and hoisted her jib. The wind still 
came from the north-west, and she resumed her course 
for the Madeira Islands. 

Capt. Wainwright followed the example of his senior ; 
and the two vessels were again standing on their 
course, which was still west, a quarter south. All went 
well till dark, though the vessels labored heavily in the 
ugly sea. The captain of the Tritonia was somewhat 
anxious about his craft, as he had no vice-principal on 
board upon whom he could lean if the situation became 
more trying. He walked the deck, keeping his gaze 
fixed to windward most of the time. 

Since the squall a full watch had been kept on duty. 
Scott was in charge of the deck when the darkness, 
deep and dense, settled down upon the scene. Even 
with only the jib and the double-reefed foresail, the 
Tritonia rolled till the water frequently came in over 
her high bulwarks, while the seas broke in heavy sheets 
over the top-gallant forecastle. 

“This will be a nasty night, Scott,” said the captain, 
pausing in his walk on the weather side of the ves- 
sel. 

“ I never saw any thing worse,” replied the second 
lieutenant. “But I think we shall be able to keep 
most of the water on the outside of her.” 

“ She is wetter on deck than I ever saw her before,” 
added Capt. Wainwright. 

“Or behind either.” 

“ I am afraid we shall lose sight of the Josephine 
before morning.” 

“ If we do, I suppose, like any other old wine-bib- 
bers, we can find our way to Madeira.” 


56 


ISLES OF THE SEA ; OR, 


“ But I am very sorry that Mr. Pelham was unable 
to return,” continued the captain. 

“ I think he will feel worse about it than any one 
else,” answered Scott. 

“ It is for his sake that I am sorry.” 

“ I don’t object to a cruise on our own account as 
long as we keep within the strict line of duty.” 

“ I am not alarmed, though in such a night as this I 
cannot help feeling a little anxious about the vessel,” 
said Capt. Wainwright. “ I had no idea that we should 
have such a storm as this proves to be. I don’t see 
the lights of the Josephine.” 

“ I saw her starboard light within five minutes,” 
added Scott, as he peered through the gloom of the 
night in the direction the consort had last been seen. 
“ She can’t be far from us.” 

“ I see it now,” added the captain. “ The tops of 
the waves shut it out from our view at times.” 

“ Now we have lost it again.” 

The Tritonia rolled and pitched fearfully, and of 
course the Josephine was doing the same. The night 
was a long and dismal one. Twice it became necessary 
to call all hands to lay the vessel to under the storm 
staysail. Even the jib and reefed foresail were too 
much for her. 

Shortly after the captain and second lieutenant were 
observing the lights of the Josephine, they disappeared, 
and were not seen again. A very heavy rain began to 
pour down, and it was thought that the thickness of the 
weather alone prevented them from seeing her. Capt. 
Wainwright declared that it was the worst night he had 
seen since he had been in the Tritonia ; and Mr. Mar- 
line confirmed his view of the matter. 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 57 

The morning broke dull and heavy, with a fierce 
rain-storm still battering against the rigging. The cap- 
tain had been on deck about all night, and had turned 
in at eight bells in the morning when the watch was 
changed, leaving the first lieutenant in charge of the 
deck. 

“ Heard a gun off the port bow,” reported the look- 
out on the top-gallant forecastle. 

“ Are you sure it was a gun ? ” asked Richards, the 
fourth master, to whom the report was made. 

“ It was a good way off ; but I’m pretty sure it was a 
gun,” replied the seaman. “ There it is again ! I am 
sure of it now.” 

Richards heard the gun himself this time, though it 
was only a dull report, evidently coming from a great 
distance. He reported it to the officer of the deck. 

“I haven’t heard it,” said Greenwood. 

“ You can hardly make out the sound above the roar 
and swash of the sea. I heard it myself just now,” 
added Richards. ♦ 

They listened attentively for some minutes, but with- 
out hearing the gun again. The first lieutenant con- 
cluded that the officer and seaman had been mistaken, 
and he sent the fourth master back to his station. All 
hands forward listened again for some time ; but the 
gun was not heard. 

“ I was sure I heard it,” said Richards to the second 
master. 

“ There are so many strange sounds in a storm like 
this, that you can’t be sure of any thing,” replied Ray- 
mond. “ I hope you didn’t hear a gun, for it can only 
be a signal of distress in such a storm.” 


58 


ISLES OF THE SEA ; OR. 


But Richards was piqued at the idea of having 
made a false report, and he kept his ears wide open 
for the next hour. Once he thought he heard the 
sound again, but he did not mention it, though the 
lookout glanced at him to indicate that he had heard 
something. 

It was too thick and dark to see any thing, even if 
there had been a sinking ship within a cable’s length 
of the Tritonia. Nearly half an hour later he heard 
the sound again. It was a sort of dull and indistinct 
“ thud,” which might have been made by a wave under 
the counter of the schooner ; but it came from a dis- 
tance, and from the same direction as before. 

“Gun on the weather-bow, sir,” repeated the look- 
out ; and this time he spoke so confidently that the 
fourth master deemed it his duty to report again to the 
officer of the deck. 

“I imagined I heard it myself this time,” replied 
Greenwood, looking very anxious. “ But it might have 
been a gun, and it might not.” 

“I think it was a gun; and I have heard it several 
times,” answered Richards. 

“ I don’t like to call the captain, after he has been 
on deck all night, for nothing,” continued the first lieu- 
tenant, looking very much troubled, as he wiped the 
spray from his face. 

“ If it is a gun, it can only mean that some vessel is 
in distress,” added Richards. “ I think we had better 
err on the side of humanity.” 

“ No doubt of it ; but we are not running away from 
the direction you report the sound as coming from.” 

“If the vessel is disabled, she is drifting this way; 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 


59 


and we can hardly work to windward in this weath- 
er.” 

“ Remain on the quarter-deck, if you please, Mr. 
Richards, and see if you can make out the gun again,” 
continued Greenwood. 

“ I hardly expect to hear it again for half an hour ; 
for it is that time since I heard it last,” said Richards, 
ns he climbed into the weather main rigging. 

Greenwood continued to walk the deck along the 
life line, which had been extended fore and aft for the 
safety of the officers and seamen on duty. As the 
fourth master had suggested, the sound was not heard 
again till nearly another half-hour had elapsed. Then 
it was heard, and* so distinctly that Richards thought 
there could be no mistake about it this time. • 

“ I heard it myself,” said the officer of the deck 
when the report was made to him. “ I will thank you 
to call the captain, and inform him that signal-guns 
have been heard on the weather-bow.” 

Richards came down from his perch in the weather 
rigging, and went below. Wain wright awoke from a 
heavy slumber at the knock on his door ; but he was 
himself at once, and inquired carefully into the matter 
of the report till he had satisfied himself that guns had 
really been heard. Hastily putting on his pea-jacket, 
he went on deck. 

All hands gazed earnestly at him as he appeared, 
and watched his movements with intense interest. 
The vice-principal was not on board, and Capt. Wain- 
wright was the supreme authority. Mr. Primback, the 
senior professor, who was nominally the head of the 
institution in the absence of the vice-principal, knew 


6o 


ISLES OF THE SEA j OR, 


no more about a ship, or about nautical matters, than 
a man that had never seen the ocean. The adult boat- 
swain and carpenter were seamen, and were competent 
advisers ; but they were without authority in the absence 
of Mr. Pelham. 

While Capt. Wainwright was inquiring into the situa- 
tion, the signal-gun was repeated ; and this time it 
could be plainly heard by all on deck. It was more 
nearly on the beam than before. The Tritonia was 
on her course. The wind, which had been rather vari- 
able during the night, was now from the north, veer- 
ing to the west. The vessel in distress was therefore 
almost dead to windward. 

“ Brace her sharp up, Mr. Greenwood,” said the cap- 
tain, as soon as he had fully taken in the situation. 

The first lieutenant gave the necessary orders in 
detail to carry out the command of the captain. The 
Tritonia promptly answered her helm, and, coming 
up into the wind, rose upon the tremendous sea, and 
then darted down into the trough, while the crest of 
the wave broke upon her top-gallant forecastle. 

“ We can’t make much beating to windward under a 
double-reefed foresail, in such a sea as this,” said 
Greenwood. 

“I am afraid not,” replied the captain, as he re^ 
turned to the cabin to inform the senior professor of 
the action he had taken. 

“ How do you know it is a ship in distress ? ” asked 
Mr. Primback, greatly disturbed by the announcement. 

“ Ships at sea don’t fire guns for nothing in such a 
sea as this,” answered Wainwright. 

“ It may be an engagement between a French and a 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 


61 


German vessel ; for France and Germany are unhap- 
pily at war with each other at this time,” suggested the 
professor. 

“ I think not, sir ; for vessels in action would be 
likely to fire oftener than once in half an hour,” re- 
plied the captain. 

“Very true: I think they would be likely to dis- 
charge their guns more frequently than this,” added 
Mr. Primback, looking wise. “ You feel confident that 
the guns are from a ship in distress ? ” 

“ I feel reasonably sure of it, sir.” 

“ Then I suppose it is quite proper to go to her as- 
sistance,” said the professor, with an inquiring look at 
the young commander. 

“ Entirely proper, Mr. Primback.” 

“ I am sorry that some other vessel does not have 
this duty imposed upon it. Nevertheless, as the sea 
is very stormy, and the violence of the motion does not 
permit the conducting of the regular recitations, I dare 
say that no great loss of time will result from this de- 
viation from the true course of the vessel.” 

“ I should say not, sir,” added the captain. 

“ Have you consulted with Mr. Marline, in the unfor- 
tunate absence at this time of Mr. Pelham ? ” 

“ I have not done so, sir. Mr. Marline turned in, 
and ” — 

“ Did what ? Do me the favor to speak the English 
language when you address me,” interposed the pro- 
fessor, who could not tolerate even the mildest of nau- 
tical terms. 

“ He went to bed, sir.” 

“ Ah, he retired ? ” 


62 


ISLES OF THE SEA ; OR, 


“ Yes, sir : he turned in when ” — 

“Retired, if you please.” 

“Yes, sir : he retired from the deck when I did ; and 
I have not seen him since the signal-guns were reported 
to me.” 

“ Mr. Marline is a prudent mariner ; and I request 
that you confer with him before any decided steps are 
taken.” 

“ But I have taken the decided step already ; for I 
have hauled her up ” — 

“ How can that be when the vessel is far out of sight 
of the land ? You speak in enigmas,” interrupted Mr. 
Primback. 

“ We braced her up ” — 

“ In English, sir,” said the professor rather sternly. 

“ I don’t know that I can describe nautical manoeu- 
vres in any other than nautical language,” said Wain- 
wright. “We were going with the wind free before, 
sir ” — 

“The wind is always free, Wainwright: no one can 
control it.” 

“Well, sir, I caused the schooner to be turned so 
that she is headed as near as she can go in the direc- 
tion from which the wind comes.” 

“ That is quite intelligible. I thank you.” 

“ The vessel is now headed as near as can be to- 
wards the ship in distress. If you wish me to speak 
to Mr. Marline I will do so, sir ; but I think it is bet- 
ter to let him sleep, after being on deck as he was all 
night.” 

“ He must be somewhat fatigued ; and you may wait 
till he gets up from his bed.” 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 63 

Wainwright withdrew from the cabin of the processor, 
and went on deck again. It was still too thick to make 
out the vessel in distress ; and, when he had directed 
the first lieutenant to call him if occasion should re- 
quire, he went to his state-room to obtain the rest he 
needed. 

The guns were repeated every half-hour as before ; 
and it was evident that the two vessels were coming 
nearer together. The rain had ceased, but a thick fog 
had settled down upon the ocean, and concealed the 
two craft from each other. But the captain could not 
sleep, weary as he was, in his anxiety about the wreck 
to windward of the Tritonia. He went on deck. The 
gun sounded as though the vessel in distress was not 
more than a mile distant. 

There was no gun on board of the schooner, or he 
would have used it to inform the sufferers that assist- 
ance was at hand. 

The Tritonia had tacked several times in the heavy 
sea ; and, after the captain came on deck the second 
time, he had ordered the addition of a close-reefed 
mainsail to the vessel, for the wind seemed to have 
abated a trifle. 

“ I see her ! ” shouted the lookout forward. 

“ Where away? ” demanded the fourth master, spring- 
ing upon the rail of the vessel, ready to get into the 
fore-rigging. 

“ Sharp on the weather-bow.” 

“ I see her,” added Richards, as he made out the 
dim outline of the craft in the fog, which had lifted a 
little as if to reveal the presence of the sufferer. 

“ She is a steamer ! ” shouted Richards, as he 


64 


ISLES OF THE SEA j OR, 


jumped down upon the deck, and hurried aft as rapidly 
as the uneasy motion of the Tritonia would permit. 

He reported to the first lieutenant the position of the 
steamer ; and immediately all the officers leaped upon 
the rail, and looked intently to windward to obtain a 
view of her. 

“ What do you make of her, Mr. Greenwood ? ” 
asked Capt. Wainwright, who was of course too dig- 
nified to leave the quarter-deck. 

“ She is a steamer, barkentine rig. She is heeled 
over to port, with her stern settled deep in the water,” 
replied the first lieutenant. 

“ Down from the rail ! ” shouted the captain. 

The order was repeated by the officer of the deck, 
and the momentary panic caused by the appearance of 
the wreck gave place to the usual order on board of the 
schooner. The captain sent the fourth master to call 
Marline ; and this old salt was greatly surprised when 
he , learned what had been done while he slept. 

“ How do we happen to be headed to the nor’ard, 
captain ?” asked he, after he had glanced at the com- 
pass. 

“We have been working to windward for the last four 
hours in search of this vessel, for we heard her signal- 
guns at two bells in the morning watch,” replied the 
captain, with a smile at the blank look of astonishment 
on the face of the boatswain. “ Mr. Primback de- 
sired me to confer with you as soon as you came on 
deck.” 

“ Why was I not called before ? ” 

“ I thought it best not to disturb you after you had 
been all night on deck.” 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 65 

“ And you were on deck all night also.” 

“ I was ; but I was called at two bells. I propose 
to lie to under the lee of the steamer, and send a boat 
on board of her as soon as practicable,” continued the 
captain. “ What do you think of that idea ? ” 

“ I don’t think much of it,” replied the old sailor 
bluntly. “ Do you think of sending a boat on board 
of the wreck at once ? ” 

“ Do you think it is safe to get out a boat ? ” 

“ I don’t think it is safe ; and for that reason I 
shouldn’t lay her to.” 

“ What would you do ? ” asked Capt. Wainwright, 
rather nettled by the disapproval of the boatswain. 

“I should run as near the wreck as possible, hail 
them, and say we will stand by them ; then stand off 
and on till the weather moderates a little. A boat 
might live now ; but the steamer floats, and don’t 
seem to be in any immediate danger of going down,” 
said Mr. Marline, when he had examined the condition 
of the wreck as well as he could in the fog. 

“ I like that plan,” replied the captain ; “ but I 
thought we might be able to reach the wreck in a 
boat.” 

“ If there was any need of it, we might,” added the 
boatswain, now getting a better view of the steamer. 
“ She has a hole in her starboard bow ; she has been 
run into by another vessel. I think the water poured 
into that hole in the beginning, flowed aft, and settled 
her down by the stern so as to lift the opening out of 
the water. That is what saved her. It was a miracle.” 

The Tritonia tacked again, and then stood under the 
stern of the wreck. Only one man, whose gray locks 


66 


ISLES OF THE SEA ; OR, 


were streaming in the fresh wind, could be seen on 
board of her. 

“ We will stand by you ! ” shouted Greenwood 
through the trumpet, as the Tritonia passed within a 
few r fathoms of the steamer. 

“ Two ladies on board ! ” yelled the man in response 
to the hail. 

“We will save them! ” replied Greenwood. 

The Tritonia passed out of hailing distance. 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 


67 


CHAPTER V. 

BOARDING THE WRECK. 

T HERE seems to be but one man on board the 
wreck,” said Wainwright, when the Tritonia 
had passed out of hailing distance/ 

“ And he says there are two women on board,” added 
Marline. “ It seems to me that I have heard that 
man’s voice before.” 

“ He speaks plain English, at any rate,” continued 
the captain. “ Have you any idea what has become of 
the Josephine, Mr. Marline ? ” 

“ It was easy enough to lose her in such a night as 
the last. She may have carried sail while we were 
laying to, or we may have carried sail while she was 
doing so. She may have been within a few miles of 
us when we changed our course to the nor’ard.” 

“ But, if she had been anywhere near us, she would 
have heard the guns on this steamer,” suggested Wain- 
wright. 

“ I think we shall have a change of weather soon, 
and we shall find out where she is.” 

“The barometer is rising; and I am confident, if 
the Josephine’s people heard those guns, she will 


68 


ISLES OF THE SEA j OR, 


follow them up, and we shall see her in the course of 
the forenoon.” 

“ No doubt of it,” replied Marline. “The fog is lift- 
ing now.” 

“The steamer seems to be in no danger of sinking,” 
added Wainwright, as he brought his glass to bear upon 
her. “ Her stern is well down in the water, but her 
bow is clear r p in the air.” 

“ She won’t go down unless the weather gets worse. 
It is moderating very rapidly.” 

“ What can we do with the steamer after we get on 
board of her ? ” asked the captain, who had been con- 
sidering this question since the wreck was first dis- 
covered. 

“ I don’t know that we can do any thing but save the 
passengers,” replied Marline. 

“ But the vessel seems to be in good condition ; and 
it may be possible to take her into port.” 

“ It maybe ; but I think we have not force enough to 
handle her, if the crew have deserted her.” 

“ If we save her, won’t she belong to us ? ” inquired 
Wainwright, who had been a seaman on the Josephine 
when she picked up a Dutch vessel in the North Sea, 
in a sinking condition. 

“ No ; but the judges of the Marine Court, or what- 
ever they call it over here, decide what part of the 
value of the vessel shall be given to those that save 
her.” 

“ It is a case of salvage, then. I didn’t know but the 
vessel, if she had been wholly abandoned, might go to 
those who picked her up.” 

“ I am no sea-lawyer, and I don’t know much about 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 69 

it ; but my notion is, that if the owners claim her, they 
take her by paying the salvage decreed by the court. 
I am sorry Mr. Pelham is not here to settle all the 
questions that may come up concerning this steamer.” 

“ I think we shall be able to settle them somehow or 
other,” replied Wainwright confidently. “ It would be 
a big thing for the Tritonia to send that vessel into 
port.” 

“ So it would ; but it will be a bigger thing to save 
the passengers on board of her. Though we see but 
one man on board of her, there may be a dozen or 
twenty,” added Marline. 

“What are they about, if there are any others in 
her ? ” 

“ That’s more than I know ; but men lose their heads 
in times of trouble. The crew may have broken into 
the rum-barrels, and got drunk. A crew is very likely 
to do such a thing after the discipline of the vessel is 
lost.” 

“ Do you suppose that is the case ? ” 

“ I don’t suppose any thing about it : I have known 
just such things to happen,” answered Marline, who 
evidently did not care to continue the conversation, for 
he did not wish to, commit himself to any thing. 

The sea was still too heavy, when the port watch came 
on duty at eight o’clock, to allow any recitation to be 
conducted in the steerage. Professor Primback, with 
his supreme contempt for all things nautical, was un- 
able to keep on his legs, and was therefore incompe- 
tent to sustain the dignity of his position. He knew 
that the students would laugh if a smart sea should 
upset him, or cause him to reel, during his demonstra- 


70 


ISLES OF THE SEA j OR, 


tion at the blackboard ; and he was unwilling to tempt 
them. For this reason it was usually vacation time in 
very stormy weather. The seamen not on duty were 
reclining in their berths, or wedged into various corners 
where they could save themselves from being pitched 
about by the savage plunging of the vessel. Every 
movable thing had been secured by the stewards, for 
neither tables nor stools would stay upon their legs. 

Professor Primback was very nervous and uneasy in 
the absence of the vice-principal ; for he did not place 
any great confidence in the good judgment and discre- 
tion of the young officers of the vessel. He perversely 
refused to inform himself in regard to seamanship and 
maritime custom and law; and he was no better than a 
child outside of the duties of an instructor. He re- 
mained in his berth till after nine o’clock in the morn- 
ing, because he would not trust himself to the uneasy 
deck. But he was not satisfied with the action of the 
young commander, even after the latter had consulted 
with Mr. Marline. 

After he had carefully considered the situation with- 
out being able to reach any conclusion, he decided to 
go on deck, — if he could get there, — and examine for 
himself into the condition of affairs. He got out of his 
berth with no little difficulty, and by sundry darts and 
plunges reached the companion-way. While he had the 
baluster under his hand he did very well, and succeed- 
ed in reaching the quarter-deck without any disaster. 

Seeing Capt. Wainwright on the weather side, he 
waited a moment till the vessel was on an even keel, and 
then started for him. If he had known any thing about 
the motions of a ship, or had understood the meaning 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 7 1 

of the order given, “ Ready about,” as he appeared at 
the companion-way, he would not have undertaken the 
feat of crossing the deck at that particular moment. 

“ Hard down the helm ! ” shouted Scott, the second 
lieutenant, who was then in charge of the deck. 

The Tritonia threw her head up into the wind as the 
hands at the wheel obeyed the order. As she fell off 
she met a tremendous wave, which broke over the top- 
gallant forecastle, and, as the bow of the vessel rose 
upon the sea, sent tons of water rolling along the lee 
side of the deck. The officers and seamen, as taught 
to do by experience, seized the life-lines, and h c 'd on 
for a moment till the water had poured out through the 
scuppers. But Mr. Primback was either too ignorant 
or too dignified to depend upon any support but his 
legs, and was knocked from his feet, and carried over 
to leeward. Mr. Marline and sorpe others had warned 
him in season of his danger ; but unfortunately they 
used sea-slang in doing so, and the professor did not 
comprehend the warning. 

The boatswain sprang to his assistance, and picked 
him up. He conducted him to one of the life-lines, 
where he was content to hold on. The foresail and 
the mainsail went over, and as soon as they filled the 
motion of the schooner was easier. 

“ What do you mean, sir ? ” demanded the professor 
angrily, as Scott passed by him in the discharge of his 
duty. 

“ I don’t mean any thing, sir,” replied the joker 
demurely, and was about to continue on his way to the 
waist. 

“ Stop, sir ! What do you mean by playing a trick 


7 2 


ISLES OF THE SEA j OR, 


upon me when I come on deck ? ” foamed the worthy 
instructor. 

“ I beg your pardon, sir, if I have done any thing 
wrong,” added Scott, shrugging his shoulders like a 
Frenchman. “ I did not mean to do any thing out of 
the way.” 

“ You tipped the ship so as to throw me down,” 
added the irate professor. 

“ I didn’t tip the ship, sir.” 

“ You gave the order to have it done, as soon as 
you saw me come on deck.” 

“ The captain ordered me to tack ship, and I gave 
the order to the watch on deck, sir. I only did what 
the captain told me to do.” 

“ This isn’t the first time you have played such a 
trick upon me,” continued Mr. Primback, who honestly 
believed that Scott was the author of his misfortune. 

The professor considered that any person who was 
capable of making a joke would not scruple to do a 
wicked deed ; and for this reason Scott was not a 
favorite with the professor. 

“ I never played a trick upon you in my life, sir,” 
pleaded the second lieutenant, with his cheerful smile. 

“ Don’t contradict me, Scott ! ” said Mr. Primback, 
w'axing more indignant as he saw the smile. “ I will 
report you for discipline to the vice-principal as soon 
as he returns.” 

“ I beg your pardon, Mr. Primback,” interposed the 
captain, “ but I do not think Mr. Scott was to blame.” 

“ I did not ask your opinion, Wainwright : I hold 
Mr. Scott responsible for his own acts,” snapped the 
professor. 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 73 

“ He only obeyed the order I gave him to tack ship, 
and it was not his fault that she made a lee lurch.” 

“ You will use none of that gibberish to me ! And I 
will tolerate no interference when I speak to a stu- 
dent.” 

“ I only desired to explain, sir,” added the captain, 
with the utmost deference and respect. 

“ Then do it in English.” 

“ When the vessel turned so that the wind did not 
press upon the sails, the heavy waves caused her to 
roll and pitch violently,” continued the captain. 

“ And Scott turned the vessel just as he saw me 
come on deck.” 

“I gave him the order to turn her.” 

“ He could have waited a moment till I had reached 
a secure position. He has been guilty of disrespect to 
the senior professor of the vessel. — Scott, you will go 
down into the cabin, and settle this case with me,” con- 
tinued Mr. Primback, who was certainly more irritable 
than usual. 

Wainwright was confounded by this order. It was 
plain that the professor had forgotten the regulation of 
the principal, which ought to have governed him in 
the present emergency. In the absence of the vice- 
principal, he had no control whatever over the captain 
in regard to the management of the vessel. He was 
taking the course pursued by another professor in the 
squadron, who had been sent home for interfering with 
the discipline of the ship. 

“ Mr. Scott is the officer of the deck, sir,” said the 
captain, greatly embarrassed by the situation. 

“ I don’t care if he is : he will obey my order, or I 


74 


ISLES OF THE SEA ; OR, 


will suspend him from duty,” replied Mr. Primback 
stoutly. 

“ You will excuse me, sir, if I call your attention to 
the regulation bearing upon this case,” continued the 
captain. 

“ Is my order to be obeyed, or not ? ” demanded the 
professor. 

“ I hope you will revoke the order till you have 
looked at the regulations, sir.” 

“ This is insolence, Wainwright. I am the acting 
vice-principal of this vessel in the absence of Mr. Pel- 
ham. I stand in his place ; and he is authorized to 
suspend an officer for cause.” 

“ If you will be kind enough to read the regulations, 
I think you will see that you are mistaken,” added the 
captain in a low tone. 

“ I am not mistaken,” persisted the professor. 

“We shall have to tack again in a moment, Mr. 
Primback ; and the vessel will roll and pitch as badly 
as before.” 

“ I think you had better go below, sir,” said Mr. 
Marline, coming up to the professor at this moment, 
loping to make an end of the disagreeable controversy. 
*’ The sea is very heavy, and she may roll herself full of 
water up to the rail.” 

“ Mr. Marline, you will see that Scott obeys my or- 
der,” replied Mr. Primback, creeping along the life-line 
towards the companion-way. 

The boatswain made no reply, but took the arm of 
the “ philosopher,” as he insisted upon calling all the 
professors, and helped him down the steps. He de- 
posited him on a sofa where he could preserve his 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 


75 


equilibrium. The learned gentleman was very glad to 
be in a safe position again ; but he could not forget the 
fancied injury to which he had been subjected. 

“ I ordered Scott to come into the cabin, and settle 
his case with me, Mr. Marline. He hasn’t come yet,” 
said the professor, wiping the salt spray from his face. 

“ I beg your honor’s pardon, but you are all wrong 
in this matter,” replied Marline bluntly, for he saw that 
nothing but plain speech would answer his purpose. 

At the same time he took from his pocket a copy of 
the regulations which had been printed on board of the 
Young America, and slowly unfolded the document. 

“ How can I be all wrong, when, in the absence of 
the vice-principal, I am in his place, and my authority 
is supreme ? ” asked the professor in great astonishment. 

“Your honor is no sailor.” 

“ I thank the stars that I am not.” 

“ The regulations say that you cannot interfere with 
the management of the vessel, or with the officers and 
seamen in the discharge of their duty. If the vice- 
principal is not on board, the professors can’t meddle 
with the navigation of the ship. That’s the law ; and 
all we have to do is to obey it.” 

Mr. Primback took the regulations, adjusted his 
glasses, and proceeded to read the articles relating to 
his own duties. The boatswain was right ; but the pro- 
fessor was unwilling to admit the fact. 

“ Am I placed at the mercy of these boys ? ” de- 
manded Mr. Primback, as he removed his glasses, and 
looked at the boatswain. 

“ So far as handling the vessel is concerned, I don’t 
see that you have any thing to do with them.” 


76 ISLES OF THE SEA j OR, 

“ They are my scholars, but they may insult me if 
they choose.” 

“ But they don’t choose to do any thing of the kind. 
It was no more Scott’s fault that you were rolled into 
the scuppers, than it was mine ; and I’m sure I had 
nothing to do with it,” added Marline. 

“ I don’t believe it : the fellow laughed in my face 
when I spoke to him. If he comes into the cabin, as I 
directed him to do, and makes a suitable apology for 
his conduct, I will pass over his offence as lightly as 
possible.” 

“ Scott obeyed orders, and he couldn’t help himself.” 

“ He did not want to help himself,” persisted Mr. 
Primback. “I will resign my position before I will 
submit to such treatment.” 

Just then the Tritonia tacked, and the vessel gave a 
tremendous lurch, as if to illustrate the argument of 
the boatswain. The professor was hurled from his 
seat, and Marline helped him up. 

“ You don’t think that I did that, do you, Mr. Prim- 
back ? ” asked the old salt. 

“Of course you did not. Have you any control 
over these boys, Mr. Marline ? ” inquired the professor 
in a tone of contempt. 

“ None at all in the absence of the vice-principal, 
answered the boatswain. 

“Then they may take us anywhere, and do what 
they please with us, if I understand the situation.” 

“ I suppose so, sir.” 

“ Then I never comprehended my position before,” 
added the professor, with increasing disgust. 

“ The trouble, if there is any, is all on account of 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 77 

the absence of the vice-principal, who is authority in all 
matters.” 

“ I had trouble enough with these boys before he 
came on board. I supposed in his absence that I took 
his place.” 

“But your honor is no sailor; and you couldn’t 
handle the vessel if you tried.” 

“ I have no desire to handle the vessel ; but, if these 
boys can insult me with impunity, it is time for me to 
know it.” 

The conversation, which did not promise to end in 
any happy result, was interrupted by the appearance of 
third master Lingall, who politely touched his hat, and 
stood waiting to deliver his message. 

“ What do you want ? ” demanded Mr. Primback. 

“ The captain desires to see Mr. Marline on deck,” 
said Lingall. 

“ Tell the captain that Mr. Marline is engaged with 
me,” interposed the professor testily. 

“ I will report to the captain myself,” added Marline, 
who was in a better frame of mind than the “ philos- 
opher.” 

“ Wait till I have done with you.” 

“ I beg your honor’s pardon, but I aiways obey the 
captain,” replied the boatswain ; and touching his hat, 
and scraping his right foot across the floor, he hastened 
on deck. 

“ Stop ! ” called Mr. Primback. “ I have something 
more to say to you.” 

“ I will see your honor as soon as I can,” added the 
boatswain ; and he ran up the steps. 

Mr. Marline could see that the orofessor was very 


7 8 


ISLES OF THE SEA j OR, 


unreasonable, considering there was a steamer in dis- 
tress depending upon the Tritonia for assistance. He 
touched his hat to the captain, and waited for further 
orders. 

“What do you think of the sea now, Mr. Marline?” 
asked Wainwright. 

“ It has improved a good deal during the last 
hour.” 

“ Do you think it is prudent to get out a boat ? ” 

“ I think it is as good weather as we are likely to 
have for some time,” replied Marline, looking at the 
sky and the sea. 

“ Then we will board the steamer.” 

The captain gave the order to call all hands ; and, as 
soon as the ship’s company had mustered, the vessel 
was heaved to. The second cutter was cleared away, 
and her crew piped into her. " O’Hara was detailed to 
take charge of her; and Mr. Rimmer, the carpenter, was 
directed to go in_ the boat, not only to render any 
assistance that might be required in boarding the 
steamer, but to examine into her condition. 

The cutter was lowered into the water, with the crew 
in her, under the direction of Mr. Marline. It was no 
easy task to accomplish this work in the heavy sea. The 
boat rose and fell on the angry waves ; but it was so 
well managed that very little water was taken in. Un- 
der the lee of the drifting steamer the water was com- 
paratively smooth. The man who had hailed the 
Tritonia threw a line to the cutter, which Mr. Marline 
secured to the fore-thwart. 

“ Are we to lower the ladies into the cutter ? ” asked 
O’Hara, when the boat was fast to the steamer. 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 79 

“ I can’t say what’s to be done till we have boarded 
her,” replied the boatswain. 

“Then I’ll do that same at once,” added the fourth 
lieutenant ; and, suiting the action to the word, he ran 
up the line like a cat. 

“ Well, good gracious ! this is one of the academy 
squadron ! ” said the man on board of the steamer, as 
O’Hara leaped down from the rail. “I thought so the 
minute I laid eyes on her ; but, seeing her out here all 
alone, I gave up the idea at once.” 

“ Mr. Frisbone ! ” exclaimed the lieutenant, as he 
recognized the gentleman who had presented the Amer- 
ican Prince to the principal of the academy squadron. 

“ Well, you boys are smart sailors ; and you are an 
honor to your country,” added Mr. Frisbone. 

“ I thought you had given up going in any steamers, 
after your experience in the American Prince.” 

“ We went to Liverpool to meet my wife’s sister, who 
came over here for her health. The doctors said Ma- 
laga was the place for her to spend the winter ; and we 
started for Spain. When I got into France, I found 
the Germans had got almost over to the sea-shore ; and 
we took this steamer at Havre for Cadiz. Last night 
she was run into by another vessel, and had a hole 
knocked in her bow. We were the only passengers on 
board ; and the crew jumped on board of the other ves- 
sel as soon as they found she had a hole in her.” 

“ But didn’t they try to save you and your wife ? ” 
asked O’Hara indignantly. 

“ Yes, they did ; but my wife and her sister were 
both sick in their berths ; and, when I got them out, 
the crew had deserted her, and the other vessel was out 


8o 


ISLES OF THE SEA j OR, 


of sight in the fog. The fact was, they were so flurried 
they didn’t know what they were about.” 

“We will take them on board of the Tritonia.” 

“ I don’t believe we could ever get them into that 
boat,” added Mr. Frisbone, as he glanced at the cutter, 
which was almost swamped in every sea that swept by 
her. 

“ The steamer don’t seem to be in any present dan- 
ger of going down,” said O’Hara. 

“ She won’t sink this time ; and, if her crew had only 
stuck by her, they might have saved her.” 

“ She is not very heavily loaded.” 

“ She has some machinery or something of that sort 
in her ; and it must have shifted so as to bring that 
hole out of the water. If I had some help I could 
right her.” 

O’Hara asked Mr. Rimmer to come on board. 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 


Si 


CHAPTER VI. 

A VOLUNTEER SHIP’S COMPANY. 

T HE carpenter of the Tritonia climbed up the 
rope, and reached the deck of the steamer. The 
moment he saw Mr. Frisbone, he recognized him, and 
saluted him with nautical politeness. 

“ Mr. Rimmer, the carpenter of the Tritonia,” said 
O’Hara, by way of introduction. 

“ I am glad to see an American seaman on board of 
this steamer,” replied Mr. Frisbone heartily. “ You 
are the carpenter of the Tritonia, and you can soon 
tell whether this vessel is worth saving.” 

“ She don’t seem to be in very bad condition with 
the exception of that hole in her starboard bow,” 
added Mr. Rimmer, as he cast his eyes about him. 

“ I wish you would look her over ; and then we can 
decide what is best to be done.” 

The carpenter began his survey of the vessel, accom- 
panied by Mr. Frisbone and O’Hara. They visited 
every part of her, examining very carefully into her 
condition. 

“ I suppose I know as much about the engine as any- 
body ; and I can say that it is in good order,” said Mr. 
Frisbone, as they passed the door of the engine-room. 


82 


ISLES OF THE SEA ; OR, 


“ I don’t know any thing about engines,” added the 
carpenter modestly. “ But I can say that the vessel is 
in first-rate condition ; and that hole in her bow can be 
stopped so that she will live in any sea. The opening 
is above the water-line, so that there will be no great 
pressure upon it.” 

“ Then we can save the vessel,” replied the Ameri- 
can Prince, as he claimed to be, and as he had named 
his steam-yacht. “ That will be a feather in the caps 
of you boys.” 

“ I should like to take a hand in the game,” said 
O’Hara, his face lighting up at the prospect. 

“ But we want help ; and there is a great deal of 
hard work to be done,” continued Mr. Frisbone. “ How 
many hands have you in your boat ? ” 

“ Ten besides Mr. Rimmer.” 

“ If they are good stout hands, we may do some- 
thing with them.” 

“ But I must report the condition of the vessel, and 
wait for further orders,” interposed O’Hara. 

“Quite right,” added the Prince, with a smile. “I 
forgot that you live on your discipline.” 

“ But the boat came off to take you and the ladies 
on board the Tritonia.” 

“ I think we are safe enough here for the present ; 
and I know the women-folks won’t think they can get 
into that boat while it is bobbing around like corn in a 
popper. Return to your ship, and give my respects to 
the captain and the old folks on board, and tell them 
I think the steamer can be saved.” 

O’Hara tried to explain how easy it would be to get 
die ladies into the cutter ; but Mr. Frisbone seemed to 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 83 

be unwilling to leave the steamer while there was a 
chance to save her. He conducted the young officer 
into the cabin, the door of which opened from the 
main deck. 

“ Here, Maggie,” said the Prince, calling to his wife, 
who was in her state-room. “ One of the vessels of 
the academy squadron has come to get us out of this 
scrape.” 

Mrs. Frisbone came out of the state-room, looking 
very pale and sick. She was followed by her sister the 
invalid, who, however, looked better than the Prince’s 
wife. 

“This is Lieut. O’Hara, of the Tritonia; Mrs. Fris- 
bone.” 

The young officer took off his cap, and bowed 
politely to the lady. 

“ Miss Louise Rodwood, my wife’s sister,” continued 
the prince. 

O’Hara thought she was a very pretty girl, and he 
indulged in an extra flourish as he saluted her. 

“ With the compliments of the captain, I beg to 
tender you the hospitalities of the Tritonia,” said the 
lieutenant, when he had formally greeted the ladies. 

“ Good ! ” roared the American Prince. “ That is 
a very pretty way to address a couple of shipwrecked 
wom'en ; and it is a credit to your bringing-up.” 

“ I beg to place our vessel at the disposal of the 
ladies ; and whatever else we may not be able to do for 
you, we will keep the ship right side up.” 

“ That’s handsome ; and the boat is all ready to take 
you to the steamer, Maggie.” 

“ I would rather drown where I am than attempt to 


8 4 


ISLES OF THE SEA ; OR, 


get into that boat,” protested Mrs. Frisbone. “ I saw 
it from the window in my room ; and it jumps about 
like a wild horse.” 

“ I am sure I can’t slide down a rope into the boat 
as I saw that man come up,” added Miss Rodwood. 

“All right; and we will stay where we are for the 
present,” said Mr. Frisbone. 

“ We can rig a whip, and lower the ladies into the 
cutter without any difficulty,” persisted the young offi- 
cer, who perhaps thought it would be pleasant to have 
such a passenger as the younger lady. 

“ If we are in no danger here, as Mr. Frisbone says 
we are not, I prefer to stay where I am,” replied Mrs. 
Frisbone ; and her sister was of the same mind. 

“ All right, lieutenant,” added the Prince. “ I 
thought the women would rather stay where they are ; 
and I think you had better return to your ship, and 
report to the captain. If he will send as many men 
as he can spare, I believe we can put this craft into 
sailing trim in a few hours.” 

“ I will do so, sir. But you forget that we have no 
engineers on board of the Tritonia to run the engine,” 
suggested O’Hara. 

“ I will run the engine myself. I never went to sea 
much, but I have run an engine on a river and bay 
steamer enough to understand the business,” replied 
the American Prince. “ If you will find firemen, I will 
look out for the engine.” 

“ I will report all you say to the captain.” 

“ Let me see : you have a vice-principal, or some- 
thing of that sort, in each of the consorts. Of course 
he will direct in this matter.” 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 


85 


“We have no vice-principal in the Tritonia just 
now;” and O’Hara explained how they happened to 
be without one. 

“ Then I suppose the professors attend to this busi- 
ness.” 

“ No, sir : the captain attends to it in the absence of 
the vice-principal. The professors have nothing to do 
with the management of the vessel, for they are not 
sailors.” 

“ And I would rather trust the young gentlemen in 
matters of seamanship than the professors,” added 
Mr. Rimmer, with a chuckle. 

O’Hara bowed to the ladies, and retired from the 
cabin. He tried to be dignified and graceful ; but 
the heavy rolling of the steamer interfered sadly with 
the poetry of motion. Both of the ladies were holding 
on with all their might at the brass rods which ex- 
tended the entire length of the cabin on each side, 
except across the doors of the state-rooms. Every 
thing seemed to be in good order, and every article 
was lashed so that it could not move at the motion 
of the vessel. 

O’Hara and Rimmer slid down into the boat, which 
was protected from the full force of the sea by being 
under the lee of the steamer. The cutters were all 
life-boats, and when well handled would keep right 
side up in any ordinary sea. The crews had been 
thoroughly disciplined in the roughest weather in 
which it was safe to launch a boat ; so that they were 
perfectly at home on the present occasion. 

The second cutter pulled under the davits, and the 
falls were hooked on. This feat was accomplished not 


86 


ISLES OF THE SEA j OR, 


without great difficulty, and only by watching for the 
favorable moment. A blunder might have smashed 
the boat, and thrown its crew into the sea. When the 
falls were fast, the hands on deck hoisted the boat up 
to the davits. 

O’Hara reported to the captain, and explained why 
the passengers on board the wreck had not come off in 
the boat. Wainwright was not a little surprised to 
learn that Mr. Frisbone, the munificent donor of the 
American Prince, was on board of the steamer with his 
wife. He knew precisely what Mr. Lowington would 
do if he had been within hail, and precisely what he 
would wish to have done in his absence. 

“Mr. Frisbone desires you to send as many hands as 
you can spare ; and with help enough he is confident 
we can save the steamer, and take her into port,” con- 
tinued the fourth lieutenant. 

“ How many of our ship’s company can we spare, 
Mr. Marline ? ” asked the captain, turning to the adult 
boatswain, who had been called to hear the report of 
the lieutenant. 

“ We can get along well enough with one watch,” 
replied the old salt. 

“That was just my view of the matter,” added the 
captain. “ But I will not detail either watch as a 
whole. There will be a great deal of hard and dirty 
work to be done on board of the steamer, and I will 
call for volunteers.” 

All hands were piped to muster in form, for they 
had already come on deck to witness the expected 
arrival of the passengers from the wreck. The seamen 
laid hold of the life-lines and such parts of the vessel 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 87 

as afforded them a hold, and waited impatiently to 
learn what was to be done. Capt. Wainwright made a 
speech in which he explained the situation on board of 
the steamer. She was to be saved and sent into port 
if possible. This announcement was greeted with yells 
and cheers. 

“ I purpose to select a crew to man the steamer,” 
continued Wainwright. “The work on board of her 
will be difficult, and some of it very dirty and disagree- 
able. I shall therefore call for volunteers.” 

“ Stop, Wainwright ! ” suddenly interposed Mr. 
Primback, who had crawled on deck in season to hear 
the last part of the captain’s speech, after one of the 
stewards had informed him what was transpiring on 
board. 

“ I beg your pardon, Professor Primback ; but this 
business admits of no delay,” replied the captain, 
vexed at the interruption of the “ philosopher.” 

“What do you mean, Wainwright, by sending half 
the students out of the vessel without saying a word to 
me ? ” demanded the irate instructor. 

“ I have consulted with Mr. Marline, as you desired, 
sir ; and I don’t think there is any other way to do.” 

“ But I object. You have taken the ship a long way 
out of her course ; and here you are wasting your time 
and mine in some Quixotic adventure.” 

“ Have you been informed that Mr. Frisbone, the 
gentleman who presented the American Prince to the 
principal, is on board of that steamer, with his wife 
and her sister, sir ? ” 

“ I have been so informed ; but that don’t affect the 
case at all. You sent a boat to convey them on board 


88 


ISLES OF THE SEA ; OR, 


of this vessel, which was a very proper thing to do, as 
it involved the possible saving of human life. To that 
I did not object : I do not now object to such just and 
proper action as may be necessary to insure the safety 
of any persons on board of the unfortunate vessel,” 
continued Mr. Primback, whose speech became more 
precise and dignified as he cooled off. “ I do not 
propose to interfere with the management of the ves- 
sel ; but when you indicate your intention to send away 
one-half of my pupils on a boyish expedition of very 
doubtful practicability, I feel it to be my duty to inter- 
fere as one having authority.” 

“ I shall be very sorry to do any thing without your 
approval, Professor Primback,” replied Wain wright, in 
,a very respectful tone. 

Do I understand you to mean by that, you intend 
to proceed with the plan you have just announced 
without my sanction, and even in opposition to my 
direct prohibition ? ” demanded Mr. Primback, control- 
ling his wrath as well as he could. 

“ I hope you will not compel me to do any thing of 
the kind, sir.” 

“I understand you perfectly, Wain wright. You are 
prepared, I see, to set at defiance my authority,” con- 
tinued the professor, biting his lips to repress his anger. 

“ I should like to speak with you a few moments, 
brother Primback,” interposed Dr. Crumples, the other 
instructor of the Tritonia. 

“ I am ready to hear any thing you have to say, doc- 
tor,” replied Mr. Primback coldly. ' 

Though the two professors never quarrelled, or ex- 
hibited any signs of variance, before the students, there 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 89 

was no sympathy whatever between them. Dr. Crum- 
bles was a genial, good-natured man, rather fond of a 
joke ; while the other cared for nothing but Greek, 
Latin, science, and philosophy. 

“ I have been reading the regulations, and I have 
come to the conclusion that you and I have nothing to 
do or say about the nautical affairs of this vessel,” said 
the doctor, in a low tone, not intended for the ears of 
the students. 

“ Do you intend to sustain the boys in their resist- 
ance to my authority, Dr. Crumples ? ” demanded the 
philosopher, straightening himself up to the full height 
of his dignity. 

Unfortunately for him, in doing this he let go of the 
life-line ; and a sudden jerk of the vessel would have 
pitched him down into the scuppers if Marline had not 
seized him by the arm, and held him. He came down 
from his dignity all in a heap. The students turned 
away to hide the laugh they could not suppress. 

“I certainly do not intend to sustain the boys in 
their resistance to your authority, for the simple reason 
that I don’t believe you have any authority in the 
premises. If you will come into the cabin, where both 
of us will be more at ease than on this unstable deck, 
I shall be happy to explain my view of the case,” re- 
plied Dr. Crumples, when his associate was fairly 
planted on his legs again. 

“ I do not care to know your opinion of the case, 
Dr. Crumples,” added Mr. Primback tartly. 

‘‘You know it already, professor,” chuckled the 
doctor. 

“ I am the senior professor of the ship, with full 
powers to direct every thing ” — 


9 ° 


ISLES OF THE SEA ; OR, 


•* In the scholastic department,” interposed the doc- 
tor. 

“ Do you suppose I am placed here to follow the 
lead of a boy ? ” demanded Mr. Primback, pointing at 
the captain of the Tritonia in the most contemptuous 
manner. 

In releasing his hold upon the life-line he was in 
great danger of being upset again, and Marline grasped 
his arm, this time so vigorously that the professor 
groaned with pain. Possibly the old salt was disgusted 
with the “ philosopher,” and expressed his feeling in 
this way. 

“ Do you mean to break my arm, Mr. Marline? ” 

“ I beg your honor’s pardon, but I was afraid you 
were going to be shied into the scuppers again,” 
pleaded the boatswain. 

“ I shall call for volunteers, my lads,” Capt. Wain- 
wright continued, resuming his speech to the ship’s 
company where he had left off. 

“You will not call for volunteers, Wain wright ! ” 
interposed Mr. Primback warmly. “I forbid you to 
call for volunteers ! I forbid any student to volunteer ! 
It is my order that you proceed on the voyage to Ma- 
deira, according to the direction of the principal.” 

“ Shall I leave Mr. Frisbone and the ladies to perish 
on the wreck ? ” asked the captain mildly. , 

• “ I have already given you permission to bring them 
on board of the Tritonia. You may still do that,” 
replied the senior professor. 

“ But the ladies decline to get into the boat while the 
sea is so rough.” 

“ Is it possible to get the ladies into the boat, Mr. 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 9 1 

Marline ? ” asked the professor, turning to the boat- 
swain. 

“ I suppose we could hoist them into the boat by 
main force ; but they said they preferred to drown 
where they were, rather than slide down on a rope into 
the cutter,” replied the boatswain, rather doggedly. 
“ If we can save the steamer we ought to do it, in my 
judgment.” 

“ We have nothing to do with saving the vessel. We 
are not out upon the ocean for any such purpose.” 

“Just as your honor pleases.” 

“ If the ladies will not get into the boat, you must 
either force them to do so, or leave them where they 
are,” added Mr. Primback. 

Wainwright said nothing more. It could make no 
difference to him if the senior professor did forbid any 
further action towards the saving of the steamer. His 
action was approved by all the other adults on board ; 
and he was confident that the officers and seamen 
would obey his orders, possibly with greater readiness 
than if the head of the scholastic department had not 
forbidden them to do so. 

The Tritonia had filled away again on the return of 
the second cutter from the wreck. By this time it was 
necessary to come about again, and stand towards the 
steamer. Wainwright politely notified Mr. Primback 
that the vessel was about to “go in stays ;” hoping that 
he would retire to the cabin, and permit him to finish 
the business of the hour. 

“Go in stays! Will you ever speak English, Wain- 
wright ? Do you mean to insult me by using that gib- 
berish to me when I have forbidden you to do so ? ” 


9 2 


ISLES OF THE SEA j OR, 


“ That is the proper nautical expression for what we 
are about to do,” replied the captain. 

“Do you mean that you are going to turn the 
vessel ?” 

“ That is substantially what we intend to do ; but 
sailors would not understand me if I called it turning 
the vessel.” 

“ Do you presume to instruct me in the use of lan- 
guage, Wainwright ? ” 

“ By no means, sir ; but I use nautical language as I 
was instructed to use it by Mr. Lowington and the 
other instructors in seamanship and navigation. — Mr. 
Greenwood, let the vessel go in stays,” continued the 
captain, turning to the first lieutenant. 

“ Man the fore and main sheets ! ” called the execu- 
tive officer. “ Ease down the helm ! ” 

As the vessel came up into the wind in obedience to 
her helm, the fore and main sheet began to bang and 
thrash as the pressure was removed. 

“ Haul in on the sheets,” called the first lieutenant ; 
and the order was repeated by the other officers in 
charge of the sheets. 

“ I’m afraid you will get hit by the sheet-blocks if 
you stand here any longer, sir,” said Mr. Marline to 
Professor Primback. “ Excuse me, sir, but you had 
better go below, or the vessel will shake you up badly 
as she catches the wind on the other tack.” 

The professor made a dive at the companion-way. 
As the vessel at that instant was on an even keel, he 
succeeded in reaching his destination. The line of 
seamen “ walking away ” with the fore-sheet then 
crowded upon him, and he fled to the cabin in dis- 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 


93 


gust. The Tritonia gave a terrible lurch as the sails 
filled on the port tack ; and the grouty professor, losing 
his hold of the stair-post, was pitched down to the lee 
side of the cabin. One of the stewards picked him 
up ; but his temper got the better of him. Dr. Crum- 
ples tried to comfort him ; but he would not be com- 
forted. 

The Tritonia was again headed towards the steamer. 
The captain took some time to consult with Mr. Mar- 
line and Mr. Rimmer in regard to the detail of officers 
and seamen for duty on the disabled vessel. Then he 
had a talk with O’Hara, though no one could hear 
what passed between them. All hands were again 
called ; and every one on board volunteered, as the 
captain had told Marline they would. 

“ Perhaps, when I have explained the duties of the 
crew on board of the steamer, you will not be so will- 
ing,” said the captain, with a laugh. “It will be ne- 
cessary for a portion of the volunteers to act as fire- 
men ; and I need not tell you that the fire-room of any 
steamer is a very hot and dirty hole. But this work 
will be fairly divided among all the seamen.” 

“But not among the officers,” added a young salt, 
laughing. 

“ Certainly not : I shall detail two officers for duty 
in the engine-room ; but I select them simply because 
they understand the business,” replied the captain. 
“Lieut. O’Hara will act as captain of the steamer; 
first master Speers as chief officer ; second master 
Raymond as second officer.” 

These names were received with cheers by the sea- 
men ; but the three lieutenants whose names had not 


94 


ISLES OF THE SEA ; OR, 


been mentioned thought it a little strange that they 
had been passed over, though the third lieutenant, 
Alexander, was competent to run an engine, which ex- 
plained why his name had been omitted. 

“ Lieut Alexander will act as chief engineer, and 
fourth master Richards as assistant,” continued the 
captain, reading from a paper he had made out. 

The names of eighteen seamen and petty officers 
were then read ; and Wainwright desired any one who 
had any objections to make, to make them now, for it 
would be too late when the party had gone on board of 
the steamer. No one made any objections ; and the 
order was given to clear away the second and third 
cutters. They were lowered into the water, one at a 
time, and their crews pulled for the steamer. Mr. 
Rimmer, the second cook, and two stewards were sent 
with them. 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 


95 


CHAPTER VII. 

THE INVALID YOUNG LADY. 

W HEN Professor Primback heard the noise of 
lowering the boats into the water, he wrote a 
formal order to the captain not to send away any pop 
tion of the ship’s company, unless it was to bring 
off tHe passengers of the steamer. He signed his 
name in full to this document, and sent it on deck by 
one of the stewards. Wain wright took the paper, read 
it attentively, and then put it into his pocket. He 
took no further notice of it. 

The senior professor evidently supposed that no 
notice would be taken of the order, and he seemed to 
be aware that he had no means of enforcing his com- 
mands ; for he went to his state-room, and made no 
further demonstration. He did not even speak to Dr 
Crumples about the matter. 

As the crew of the steamer had taken the boats with 
them when they abandoned her, the second and third 
cutters of the Tritonia were to be retained by the party. 
In half an hour they were all on board the steamer, 
with the boats hoisted up at the davits. O’Hara re- 
ported what had been done on board of the Tritonia 
to Mr. Frisbone, and informed him that he had been 


9 6 


ISLES OF THE SEA j OR, 


appointed captain of the steamer, or, at least, of the 
party sent to assist in saving her. 

“ Capt. O’Hara, I greet you ! and the captain of the 
Tritonia could not have selected a better captain, with- 
out speaking ill of the other officers ; for I know how 
well you managed some very difficult business in Italy 
last fall,” said Mr. Frisbone. “ Now will you introduce 
me to the rest of your officers ? ” 

O’Hara presented them one at a time, and the 
American Prince shook hands with each. When he 
came to Mr. Alexander, he gave one of his loud and 
hearty laughs. 

“ I thought I was to be chief engineer,” said he, 
wringing the hand of Alexander; “but I am willing to 
place myself under your orders, Mr. Chief Engineer.” 

“ He is the chief engineer as far as our party is con- 
cerned,” O’Hara explained. “ Though Capt. Wain- 
wright is the commander of the Tritonia in name and 
in fact, so far as doing duty is concerned, yet the 
vice-principal is really the captain. If you please, Mr. 
Frisbone, we shall all regard you as the principal, on 
board of the steamer.” 

“All right, Capt. O’Hara,” replied the Prince, who 
seemed to take great delight in giving the young officers 
their full titles, and using them often. 

“ I shall be glad to take my orders from you ; and 
the chief engineer will do the same,” added O’Hara. 

“ Possibly the chief engineer knows more about run- 
ning an engine than I do ; and I know more about 
building them than I do of running them.” 

“•Of course I shall give in to you, sir,” said Alex- 
ander. 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 


97 


“ Thank you ; but do you really know any thing 
about an engine, Mr. Alexander ? ” asked Mr. Frisbone, 
in his teasing tone. 

“ Two years ago I was assistant engineer on a screw 
steamer about the size of this one,” answered Alex- 
ander. 

“ And how old were you two years ago ? ” 

“ I was eighteen, sir. My father received a legacy 
from an uncle in Scotland, which made him a rich 
man ; and then I was sent to this institution to finish 
my education. I had worked two years in a machine- 
shop before I went to sea at all. I think I can run an 
engine, sir.” 

“ I have no doubt you can ; in fact, I believe these 
young gentlemen can do any thing that anybody can,” 
added Mr. Frisbone, laughing heartily ; and sometimes 
no one could imagine what he was laughing at. 

“ The second engineer ran a stationary engine when 
he was twelve years old, in his father’s shop,” con- 
tinued O’Hara, when he had presented this officer. 

“ And I was engineer of a small steam-yacht when 
I was fourteen,” added Richards. 

“ All right, young gentlemen ; and I shall have 
nothing to do but sleep in the cabin, and take care of 
the women-folks,” chuckled the Prince. 

“ I think some of our officers will be quite willing to 
assist you in that part of your duty,” said O’Hara 
lightly. “ Upon my loife, the young lady is as beauti- 
ful as the lovely Giulia Fabiano ; and, by the powers, 
that’s saying a great dale ! ” 

“ By the way, now I think of it, is there a young 
gentleman in the squadron by the name of Speers, — 
Tom Speers?” 


9 8 


ISLES OF THE SEA ; OR, 


“ There is, sir ; and he is one of our party,” replied 
O’Hara. “Where are ye, Tom Speers ? ” 

Tom had been introduced ; but the Prince evidently 
did not notice the name, for he had called him “ Mr. 
Spear,” when he addressed him. Tom came forward 
when his name was called. 

“ How is it you happen to be here, Mr. Speers ? ” 
asked the Pri ice. 

“ I was detailed to act as chief officer of this vessel, 
by the captain of the Tritonia, sir,” replied Tom, won- 
dering how Mr. Frisbone happened to know any thing 
about him. 

“ I know ; but you were sent for by my friend Judge 
Rod wood, to go to England.” 

“ I did not go, sir.” 

“Well, we won’t stop to talk about that now. We 
must go to work on the steamer at once, and have her 
in good condition in case another storm comes on,” 
said Mr. Frisbone, suddenly changing his tone and 
manner. 

But, before the officers left the cabin, he introduced 
them to his wife and her sister ; then the party took a 
look at the vessel below. Mr. Rimmer had been study- 
ing the hole in the starboard bow since he came on 
board, and by this time he was hard at work repairing 
the damage. Two seamen, who had a taste for carpen- 
try, were detailed to assist him. Until the hole was 
stopped, nothing could be done towards righting the 
vessel ; for she lay just in the proper position to enable 
the carpenter to do his work to the best advantage. 

Mr. Rimmer intended to do the job in a much more 
thorough manner than he had at first proposed, for the 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 


99 


reason that he found the materials for it on board. 
He proceeded to splice the broken ribs, and then to 
plank them over, as the work would have been done in 
a ship-yard. A stage was rigged, and lowered over the 
side ; and, while the carpenter was getting out his stock, 
his assistants removed the broken planking. The 
heavy rolling of the vessel interfered very much with 
operations on the stage ; but the workmen were very 
zealous, and made good progress in spite of all the 
disadvantages. 

In the mean time Mr. Frisbone and the rest of the 
ship’s company were preparing to right the steamer, 
and pump the water out of her, as soon as this work 
could be undertaken. The steam-pump was put in 
good order ;^and everything about the vessel was re- 
stored to its usual condition, so far as it was possible 
to do so. 

In the afternoon the wind abated almost to a calm, 
and a boat came from the Tritonia to pay the steamer 
a visit. Mr. Marline was in it, with one of the stewards 
who had been a ship-carpenter. Both of them went to 
work with Mr. Rimmer, and before dark the hole was 
planked over. As there were some indications of bad 
weather again, the Tritonia’s boat returned, and Mr. 
Rimmer and his assistants proceeded to calk the seams 
by the light of the lanterns. By midnight the job was 
completed, even to coppering the part below the water- 
line. 

Before eight bells in the evening, the ship’s company 
had been divided into two watches, as in the merchant 
service. One watch had turned in at eight bells ; but 
all hands were called at midnight, when the repairs 

&.0FC. 


100 


ISLES OF THE SEA ; OR, 


were finished. At this time the steam-pump was start- 
ed, and it discharged the water at a very rapid rate. 
Mr. Rimmer followed the water as it receded in the 
hold, to ascertain if there was any leak in the bottom ; 
but none was found. 

The steamer had for a cargo the parts of an iron 
bridge, and the labels upon them indicated that it was 
consigned to a firm in Barcelona. One of the heaviest 
of the pieces had shifted from its position in the hold, 
throwing others out of place, till their weight had heeled 
the vessel over as the party had found her. 

‘Well, Capt. O’Hara, do you think you can stow 
this cargo over again so as to right the vessel ? ” asked 
Mr. Frisbone, when the pump had worked long enough 
to afford them a full view of the condition of the hold. 

“ I have no doubt I can,” replied O’Hara confidently. 

“ But some of those pieces weigh several tons,” 
suggested the Prince. 

“But we have a donkey-engine on deck; and, with 
snatch-blocks, we can apply the power in any direction 
we desire.” 

“ Precisely so : I see that you are master of the 
situation.” 

The captain had already caused the necessary blocks 
and rigging to be collected in the hold. The assistant 
engineer was stationed at the donkey-engine, the 
snatch-blocks were arranged for moving the heaviest 
piece of the bridge, and the rope was adjusted. A 
chain sling was attached to the iron, and the line made 
fast to it. 

“ Go ahead ! ” said O’Hara, when every thing was 
ready ; and the order was passed along the line of sea- 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 


IOI 


men until it reached the officer in charge of the donkey* 
engine. 

The rope straightened and strained as the power was 
applied ; and then the huge mass of iron began slowly 
to move in the required direction. Mr. Rimmer and 
his gang placed the skids, and in the course of half an 
hour the piece was moved to the place indicated by the 
carpenter. The steamer came up on an even keel as 
the heavy weight changed position. 

“ But she is down too much by the stern,” said Mr. 
Rimmer, when the piece had been blocked securely in 
its place. 

“ I see why that is,” added the Prince. “ Half a 
dozen of those tube pieces have rolled out of the places 
where they were first stowed.” 

These were restored to their original beds as indi- 
cated by the blocking; and they had doubtless been 
thrown out of place by the shifting of the larger piece. 

“ The vessel is in good trim now,” said Mr. Rimmer, 
wiping the perspiration from his brow. “ Those pieces 
will not move again unless the steamer goes over on 
her beam-ends.” 

The party left the hold, and hastened on deck. The 
weather was still mild, though the sky was clouded 
over. The captain sent an order to the chief engineer, 
directing him to get up steam. The fires had been 
started in the furnaces ; but only steam enough had been 
/iade to work the donkey-engine, which was not fur- 
nished with a separate boiler, as in many vessels. 

The amateur firemen had been fully instructed in 
their duties by Mr. Frisbone, who remained in the fire- 
Toom till morning. Thus far the seamen considered 


02 


ISLES OF THE SEA ; OR, 


the hot and dirty work as good fun ; but they were not 
likely to hold this opinion for any length of time. 
Four hands had been detailed from each watch to 
serve as firemen ; and these were to work two at a 
time, so that only two hours’ service were required of 
each, or six hours a day. The fire-room was well 
ventilated, so that it was not so intensely hot as in 
many steamers. A lot of cast-off woollen shirts and 
trousers had been brought from the Tritonia for the 
use of the firemen. 

Mr. Frisbone did not like the looks of the quarters 
occupied by the French sailors and firemen ; and he 
insisted that the seamen should be berthed in the cabin. 
There were state-rooms enough to accommodate them 
all ; but the part of the cabin used by the officers was 
separated from that of the seamen by a curtain sliding 
on a brass rod. 

The steamer was the Ville d’Angers. She was evi- 
dently a nearly new vessel, of about six hundred tons. 
Unlike most of the English steamers, she had a pilot- 
house forward, as in American vessels of this kind. 
Her cabin was handsomely fitted up, and she appeared 
to be a first-class steamer in every respect. 

O’Hara went into the pilot-house, when the work 
below was completed. Tom Speers followed him, for 
there was nothing more to be done till the engineer 
should report that he had steam enough to start her. 

“ This will be a big spree, my boy,” said the captain, 
as he seated himself by the wheel. 

“ The biggest that ever happened. I am amazed to 
find myself in it,” replied Tom. “ I don’t see how i 
came to be appointed to the second place on board, 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 


I0 3 


when there are so many fellows above me that wanted 
to take a hand in this business.” 

“You don’t see it? Then I’ll tell you, my boy,” 
added the captain with a jolly laugh, as though he en- 
joyed the situation. 

“I suppose you helped me into the place.” 

“Troth, I did, thin ! You see, when a fellow like you, 
rotten with stamps, with millions in prospect, and a let- 
ter of credit for thousands in his trousers-pocket, comes 
along, it is well to get on the right side of him,” con- 
tinued O’Hara, laughing all the time. 

“ I don’t believe the money had any thing to do with 
it,” protested Tom. “You are the farthest from a self- 
ish fellow of all the ship’s company ; and I won’t 
believe what you say of yourself.” 

“Thank you for so much, my lad. But I’ll bet a 
hackle, if the fellows knew how rich you are, they 
would say that’s the rayson. When Capt. Wainwright 
told me beforehand that he should give me the com- 
mand of the steamer, which he didn’t do till he had 
talked it over with Mr. Marline, he asked me to tell 
him who I wanted for officers. Your name was the 
first I gave him ; so don’t forget me when you make 
your will.” 

“ I certainly will not if I have any thing to leave,’' 
replied Tom. 

“ Steam up ! ” shouted Alexander through the speak- 
ing-tube which connected with the engine-room. 

“Then we are all ready to go ahead Have you 
seen the Tritonia’s lights lately, Tom ?” said O’Hara, 
looking out in the direction from which they had been 
last seen. 


104 


ISLES OF THE SEA ; OR, 


“ I have not : we have all been so busy that we have 
not thought of her. She has been standing off and on 
all night, I suppose.” 

“There she is, astern of us,” added O’Hara. “We 
must run down and report the state of things on board 
to the captain. Call the quartermaster and a seaman 
to take the wheel, if you please, Tom.” 

The two hands were called into the pilot-house, and 
the quartermaster was given the charge of the wheel. 
The other hand was required to assist him, for the 
officers had not yet learned how much force was needed 
to steer the steamer. 

“ Do you know any thing about these jinglers, Bur- 
ley ? ” asked the captain, as the quartermaster took the 
wheel. 

“Yes, sir: the chief engineer told me all about 
them,” replied Burley. 

“ Start her, then,” added the captain. 

The quartermaster pulled the bell-handle on the 
wheel-frame. The hissing steam was heard below ; the 
vessel jarred a little; and then she went ahead. 

“ The course, if you please ? ” inquired the quarter- 
master. 

“Run for the Tritonia; but be sure you don’t run 
over her,” replied O’Hara. “She is astern of us now.” 

“ For the Tritonia, sir,” repeated Burley, as he threw 
the wheel over. 

“We are actually moving!” said O’Hara, as he left 
the pilot-house, followed by Speers. 

“ I think there is no doubt of that,” replied the chief 
officer. “ Have you any idea where we are going?” 

“ Not the least in the world ; but, the nearer the port, 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 105 

the shorter our term of office. I wish we were bound 
to New York, or some other port on the other side of 
the ocean ; for I should like a long cruise under present 
circumstances.” 

“ So should I ; but I suppose we shall have only a 
day or two of it at the most.” 

“ We shall soon know where we are going ; for I 
suppose Capt. Wainwright has been studying on that 
question since he sent us on board of the steamer.” 

O’Hara then directed that the starboard watch, which 
had been on duty all night, should be relieved. It was 
two o’clock in the morning, and they were to be called 
at four. This was Tom Speers’s watch ; but he was 
not inclined to turn in before the captain had reported 
to the Tritonia. Raymond was now in charge of the 
deck, and Tom had nothing to do. He went into the 
cabin, and to his surprise found that Miss Rodwood 
was there. 

Tom touched his cap to her, and remarked that she 
was up late. There had been so much noise in the 
hold, that she could not sleep, and she had got up. 
The officer seated himself on a divan, and he could 
not keep his eyes off the fair passenger. 

Miss Rodwood was walking up and down the cabin ; 
and Tom could not help thinking again that she was 
a very pretty girl. She was very pale, and no doubt her 
recent experience on shipboard had been a severe trial 
to her nerves. Tom noticed that there was something 
very strange about her expression. He could not 
explain it ; but he was confident that she was suffering 
from some cause. She did not seem to be in bodily 
pain. The motion of the vessel was tolerably easy 


106 ISLES OF THE SEA ; OR, 

compared with what it had been, so that she had no 
difficulty in walking on the cabin floor. The curtain 
partition was open on one side of the table, so that the 
lady extended her walk to the entire length of the 
apartment. 

She kept quickening her pace till she was going 
almost at a run ; but she moderated it as she ap- 
proached the young officer. Tom watched her with 
increasing interest, as she appeared to grow more ex- 
cited. He was sure now that something was the mat- 
ter with her ; and he felt that something ought to b,e 
done for her. 

“ The weather has been very favorable for our 
work,” said Tom, desiring to ascertain something more 
about the lady’s condition through the medium of con- 
versation. 

“ I suppose it has,” she replied, with a nod, and con- 
tinued her walk. 

Tom saw that her eye looked a little wild. He 
decided that he ought to inform Mr. Frisbone of her 
condition, though he hardly understood enough of such 
matters to determine whether any thing was the matter 
with her. 

While he was thinking of the case, he saw Miss 
Rodwood ascend a flight of stairs in the forward part 
of the cabin, leading to the hurricane-deck. He rushed 
out at the main entrance, and ran up the ladder. The 
lady was walking very fast towards the stern of the 
vessel. He concluded that she had come up to take 
the air ; and she would certainly regard it as imperti- 
nent for him to follow her. He paused to consider 
what he should do. 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 


107 

He saw O’Hara planking the main deck from the 
waist forward. He would speak to him, and ask him 
to send for Mr. Frisbone. He descended to the main 
deck, and hailed the captain. 

“I thought you had turned in, my boy,” said the 
captain lightly. 

“ No : I thought I would stay up till you have com- 
municated with the Tritonia,” replied Tom. “Have 
you noticed any thing strange about the young lady on 
board, O’Hara ? ” 

“ Upon me sowl, I haven’t, except that she is as 
pretty a girl as I have set eyes on for seven years ; and 
that’s saying a great dale,” answered the captain. 

“ Don’t joke, please, just now, O’Hara. I think some- 
thing ails the young lady ; and I’m afraid it’s something 
serious,” added Tom. 

“You don’t mane it! What could ail a girl as 
pretty as she is ? ” 

Tom took five minutes to tell what he had observed 
in the cabin. 

“ Is it crazy she is ? Is that what you mane ? ” 
demanded O’Hara, not a little excited by the inference 
he drew from what his companion had said. 

“You needn’t call it by any such name as that. I 
believe she is an invalid ; and, after all she has been 
through during the last twenty-four hours, it wouldn’t 
be very strange if she were a little out of her head. I 
don’t like to lose sight of her. There she is, walking 
up aBd down the poop-deck as though she were run- 
ning a race with her own shadow. Will you send one 
of the watch down to tell Mr. Frisbone how it is with 
her, or ask him to come on deck without saying what 
is wanted ? ” 


108 ISLES OF THE SEA ; OR, 

“ Troth, I’ll do so myself ! ” replied the captain, hur- 
rying down through the engine-room. 

He had hardly disappeared before Miss Rodwood 
started to run with all her might towards the stern of 
the steamer. Tom Speers leaped up the ladder to the 
hurricane-deck in season to see her spring over the 
low railing into the sea. 

“ Man overboard ! man overboard ! Stop her ! ” 
cried Tom at the top of his lungs ; and they were not 
feeble lungs. 

He cut loose the life-buoy which was lashed to the 
railing, and threw it overboard. But Tom was not 
content with this action : he kicked off his sho«s, and 
stepped out of his heavy pea-jacket and coat at the 
same moment, and plunged into the sea. 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 


109 


CHAPTER VIII. 

THE VILLE D’ANGERS. 

“ T TELP, help ! Save me!” cried Miss Rodwood 

J_ JL in the water, at some distance from Tom 
Speers. 

As the girl had voluntarily thrown herself into the 
sea, Tom could not understand why she called for as- 
sistance. He had struck the water only a few seconds 
after she sprang overboard, and she could not be at 
any great distance from him. He was a strong swim- 
mer, and the sea was very smooth. He heard the cry 
of the girl repeated as he came up with the life-buoy 
he had thrown overboard. Placing it before him, he 
swam with all the speed he could make, and reached 
the sufferer when she was quite exhausted by her efforts. 
She could swim a little herself, and had more confi- 
dence in the water than most persons who had never 
tried to do so. 

“ Don’t be afraid ! ” cried Tom, when he saw in the 
gloom of the night that she was still struggling to keep 
afloat. 

In a moment more he reached her, and placed her 
hands upon the life-buoy, which was buoyant enough 
to support both of them. 


fio 


ISLES OF THE SEA ; OR, 


“ You are perfectly safe now,” said Tom, as he 
assured himself that she had a good hold upon the 
buoy. 

She was too much exhausted to make any reply ; 
and, whatever she had intended in the beginning, it 
was clear enough to Tom that she had no present desire 
to end her young life. 

Capt. O’Hara had hardly entered the engine-room, 
when he heard the energetic cry of Tom Speers ; and 
he realized in an instant that the worst his friend feared 
had come to pass. 

“ Man overboard ! Stop her, Alexander ! ” he shout- 
ed to the chief engineer, who was watching the motions 
of the machinery. 

The captain told the engineer to pass the word for 
Mr. Frisbone. He returnd to the main deck ; but Ray- 
mond, the second officer, had heard the startling cry. 
Already the third cutter was swung out, and all the 
watch on deck were in the boat. The officers and sea- 
men had been thoroughly trained to this sort of service, 
and there had been no more delay than if they had 
been on board of the Tritonia. The crew lowered 
themselves into the water, as there was no difficulty in 
doing in a smooth sea. The falls were cast off, and 
the cutter shoved away from the steamer. The four 
oars were shipped, and the crew pulled with all their 
muscle. 

“ Pull directly astern of the vessel ! ” shouted O’Hara, 
who had gone upon the hurricane-deck, where he could 
see all that was done. 

“ Ay, ay, sir ! ” replied the quartermaster, who, as 
the highest in rank, had taken the place of the cox* 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 


1 1 1 


swain ; for the boat-service of the steamer was not yet 
organized, and it was not the practice in the vessels of 
the squadron to wait for the regular officers and crew 
of the boats in any emergency. 

“ Call all hands, Mr. Raymond,” said the captain to 
the officer of the deck. 

As there was not another seaman left on the deck of 
the Ville d’Angers, Raymond performed this duty him- 
self. 

“ Man overboard ! All hands on deck ! ” cried Ray- 
mond, as he passed into the cabin, and proceeded to 
open the doors of all the state-rooms occupied by the 
crew. 

“ What is the matter ? ” asked Mrs. Frisbone, coming 
out of her room. 

“ Man overboard, madam,” replied the second offi- 
cer. 

“Man overboard! Who is it?” asked the terrified 
lady. 

“ I’m sure I don’t know who it is, madam.” 

As it was a “ man overboard,” it did not occur to 
her that the unfortunate person could be her sister ; 
but, fearing that the invalid might be alarmed at the 
unusual noise, she went to her room, and found she 
was not there. 

“Where is my sister?” asked Mrs. Frisbone, very 
much startled by the discovery she had made. 

“ I don’t know, madam,” replied Raymond. “ I saw 
her walking on the hurricane-deck a while ago. I will 
see if she is there now.” 

The second officer left the cabin ; and, finding the 
captain on the upper deck, he asked if he had seen 
Miss Rodwood. 


112 ISLES OF THE SEA; OR, 

“ She is overboard,” replied the captain. 

“ My sister overboard ! ” exclaimed Mrs. Frisbone, 
who had followed Raymond from the cabin. 

“I am sorry to say she is, madam,” added O’Hara; 
“ but I think she will be saved. Mr. Speers leaped 
in after her only a few seconds after she went over.” 

“ Did she fall into the water? ” demanded the excited 
lady. 

“ She jumped over the railing herself, madam,” an- 
swered O’Hara, as gently as he could utter the disa- 
greeable words. 

“ Impossible ! She could not have intended to end 
her life,” groaned the agonized sister. 

The captain was explaining what had passed in the 
cabin before the catastrophe, when Mr. Frisbone joined 
them. He was astounded at the intelligence conveyed 
to him. 

“ Have you suspected that she was out of her head, 
Maggie ? ” he inquired. 

“ I have not seen a single indication of any thing of 
the kind,” she replied. 

“ I was on my way to the fire-room to call you, at 
the request of Mr. Speers, who was sure something was 
the matter with her, when I heard the cry of ‘ Man 
overboard,’ ” added O’Hara. 

“ I wish he had called me,” said Mrs. Frisbone, with 
a shudder. 

“ Don’t be alarmed, madam : I am confident she will 
be saved,” continued the captain, looking out into the 
darkness astern of the ship. 

“ I am sure I did not suspect any thing of this kind. 
She seemed to be quite cheerful and happy when she 
retired,” mused Mrs. Frisbone. 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 1 13 

“ Hurrah ! hurrah ! ” shouted the boat’s crew, in the 
gloom, where they could not be seen. 

“ That means good news,” said the captain. “ They 
have her in the boat by this time.” 

The party on the deck listened for further sounds in 
the direction from which the cheers had come. In a 
few moments they heard the measured stroke of oars 
at some distance from the ship. Raymond had ordered 
up all the lanterns on board, which were taken to the 
gangway. 

“ Hurrah ! hurrah ! hurrah ! ” shouted the crew 7 of 
the third cutter, as the boat approached the steamer. 

The party descended from the hurricane-deck, and 
gathered at the gangway, where the accommodation 
steps had been rigged by Raymond’s directions. The 
cutter came up to the platform ; and Tom Speers, tak- 
ing the shivering invalid in his arms, bore her up the 
steps, and into the cabin. 

She was too cold, and exhausted by her struggles in 
the water, to speak. Tom laid her in the berth, and all 
retired but her sister. Her wet clothing was removed, 
and she was wrapped in blankets. In half an hour she 
was warm and comfortable. Her improved condition 
was reported by the Prince to the interested officers. 

“What induced you to do such a thing?” asked 
Mrs. Frisbone. “Are you tired of living, Louise?” 

“ Far from it, Maggie ! I don’t know what made 
me do it. I can’t explain it. I certainly had no inten- 
tion of jumping overboard. An impulse came over 
me, and I could not resist it. I have hardly slept a 
wink for two nights, and I was very nervous.” 

This was all the explanation the invalid could give 


ISLES OF THE SEA j OR, 


114 

of the rash act she had attempted. She insisted that 
the bath had done her good, and that she was no lon- 
ger vexed by the morbid fancies which had troubled her 
since the collision. She expressed her gratitude in the 
strongest terms to the young gentleman who had gone 
to her assistance ; and she was sure she should have 
drowned without his aid, for she felt that she was sink- 
ing when he brought the life-buoy to her. 

Mrs. Frisbone would not leave her again that night, 
though the invalid declared that she should go to sleep 
at once ; and she did as soon as the explanations were 
finished. In the mean time Tom Speers had gone to 
his state-room, and changed his wet clothes for dry 
ones, and was no worse for his bath. 

“ Mr. Speers, you have laid me and my wife under a 
load of obligation that I shall never feel like getting 
rid of,” said the Prince, as the young hero came out of 
his room. “ I like that girl as though she was my own 
daughter ; and you have done more for me than any 
living man could do, unless it was to save my wife from 
drowning in the same way.” 

“ I am sorry you feel that way about it, sir,” replied 
Tom, laughing ; “ for I don’t like to have anybody feel 
that he owes me too much.” 

“You are more than ten times the feller I supposed 
you was, Mr. Speers ; and I have heard a good deal 
about you within the last week or two.” 

“ What have you heard about me, sir ? ” asked Tom 
curiously. 

“ I’ll tell you some other time,” answered the Prince. 
“ I must go and look out for the firemen, for they are 
very green in their new duties, and I’m afraid they 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 115 

will catch cold when the watch is shifted : it is just like 
boys to go on deck to cool off when they leave the 
fire-room.” 

Mr. Frisbone disappeared in the engine-room, and 
Tom went forward. He had a long talk with O’Hara 
about the adventure of the night, in which the captain 
did not spare the praise he felt that the bold fellow 
deserved. 

“ Upon my sowl, the Prince would make you a rich 
man if he could ; but, by the powers, you have got 
ahead of him, and it’ll be no use. You are richer than 
he is, and he can’t do any thing for you in that way.” 

“ I hope not ; for I should feel insulted if a man 
offered me money for that sort of service,” replied the 
high-toned young officer. “ I feel as much at home in 
the water as I do on this deck ; and, if I saw anybody 
in the water, I couldn’t help going in after him, if he 
needed help.” 

“ That’s the ginerous nature you have, my boy ! It’s 
a wonder you wasn’t born in ould Ireland or Italy.” 

“ The Tritonia is close aboard of us,” said the officer 
of the deck, touching his cap to the captain. 

“ I see she is : slow down, if you please, Mr. Ray- 
mond,” replied O’Hara. “ We shall soon know now to 
what port we are bound.” 

“ I think I can go to sleep when I know that,” added 
Tom. 

The Tritonia had made a long tack in standing off 
and on ; and, when she was at the greatest distance 
from the Ville d’Angers, the wind had died out. She 
was rolling in the long swells with all sail set, but mak- 
ing no progress through the water. The Ville d’Angers 


ISLES OF THE SEA ; OR, 


1 16 

ran across her wake, and within hailing distance of 
her. 

“ On board of the steamer ! ” called the officer of the 
deck. 

“ On board the Tritonia ! ” replied Raymond, prompted 
by the captain. 

“ The captain desires Mr. O’Hara to report in per- 
son,” added the officer of the schooner. 

“ All ready with the third cutter,” said the captain. 

The boat was lowered into the water, and pulled off 
with O’Hara on board. In a few moments he was on 
the quarter-deck of the Tritonia. Capt. Wainwright had 
been called when the steamer was made out by the 
watch, and he immediately came on deck. 

O’Hara reported in full concerning his action since 
he had taken possession of the steamer. He declared 
that the Ville d’ Angers was in good seaworthy condi- 
tion in every respect. She was abundantly supplied 
with coal, water, and provisions. 

“ It seems very remarkable that we should pick up 
Mr. Frisbone and his wife in a disabled vessel,” said 
Capt. Wainwright, when O’Hara had finished his re- 
port, which closed with the catastrophe of Miss Rod- 
wood. “ It would perhaps have been better if the 
American Prince had happened to come to the relief 
of the Ville d’Angers.” 

“ But better the Tritonia than neither,” added 
O’Hara. 

“ There would have been a certain fitness in the 
American Prince saving her former owner from the 
perils of the sea.” 

“ Indade there would ! ” exclaimed the captain of 
the steamer. 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 1 1 7 

“ But I suppose you want your orders ; and I confess 
that I have been in a great deal of doubt. Professor 
Primback is so much incensed against me, that he won’t 
speak to me. I have asked his advice in regard to 
what to do ; but he will not say any thing. He says I 
am in the attitude of rebellion against his authority. 
He insists that I shall call back the students I have 
sent away, and let the steamer go to the bottom, if that 
was to be her fate. Mr. Marline thinks I had better 
send her to the nearest port, which would be Ca- 
diz.” 

“ That would be a sensible way to dispose of her,” 
interposed O’Hara, who was in favor of an independ- 
ent cruise. 

“ Then I find I differ from all others. I am neither 
in favor of sending her to Cadiz, or of letting her go to 
the bottom,” added the captain of the Tritonia decid- 
edly. “ And, as I am to be responsible for my action, 
I shall follow my own plan. Mr. Primback annoys me 
very much, and I wish to put an end to this state of 
things as soon as possible.” 

“ You did not state your plan, captain,” suggested 
O’Hara nervously ; for the independent cruise seemed 
to be no longer probable. 

“ I worked over the dead reckoning last night, after 
the calm settled down upon us ; and I make it out that 
the Josephine cannot be more than forty or fifty miles 
to the southward of us. She must have laid her course 
sooner than we did, or we should not have lost sight of 
her in the night.” 

“ The American Prince must have sailed some time 
in the evening, if she was not delayed by the storm ; 


ISLES OF THE SEA ; OR, 


Il8 

and she may have overhauled the Josephine before this 
time.” 

“ Possibly ; but the two vessels got so much off their 
course during the blow, that I hardly expect to see the 
Prince till we reach Funchal,” replied Capt. Wainwright. 
“ All I care for is to get the vice-principal on board 
again ; and then he can settle all disputed questions, 
and order the Ville d’Angers to Funchal or to Cadiz, 
as he pleases ; and I shall be relieved of all responsi- 
bility.” 

“ I see,” said O’Hara : but he did not see what he 
wished to see. 

“ The Josephine must be becalmed, as we are, within 
fifty miles of us ; and, as the weather is clear now, we 
shall be likely to see her,” continued the captain. “ So, 
Mr. O’Hara, you will range your steamer ahead of the 
Tritonia, and take on board our best hemp cable. In 
other words, you will take the schooner in tow. When 
you have made fast our line, you will make your course 
south south-west, and run under full steam.” 

“ South south-west, under full steam,” repeated 
O’Hara, not at all pleased with the prospect; for he 
did not like the idea of having the Ville d’Angers 
changed into a tow-boat, as he contemptuously ex- 
pressed it afterwards. 

“ It is now nearly eight bells in the morning,” con- 
tinued Wainwright. “ You will take the course given 
you ; and if by meridian we don’t see any thing of the 
Josephine, I shall be ready to give you new orders.” 

O’Hara returned to his boat, and was pulled to the 
steamer. She went on, and took a position ahead of 
the schooner, and as near as it was safe to lie. The 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 1 19 

second cutter carried the tow-line to her stern, and the 
end was hauled on board. It was made fast under the 
direction of Mr. Rimmer, for there were no proper bitts 
for the purpose. 

“ Are you all ready ? ” shouted the captain of the 
Tritonia. 

“ All ready, sir,” replied O’Hara, when the hawser 
had been secured. 

“ Then go ahead,” responded Capt. Wainwright. 

The bells in the engine-room sounded ; and in a few 
minutes the Ville d’Angers was going ahead at full 
speed, towing the Tritonia in the direction indicated 
by the captain of the latter. 

Mr. Frisbone was informed of the use to be made of 
the steamer; but he offered no objection. He had 
heard that Madeira was a good place for invalids ; and 
very likely his wife’s sister would do as well as, if not bet- 
ter than, at Malaga so late in the season. He was as 
willing to go to Funchal as to Spain. He staid in the 
fire-room till six o’clock, when he had thoroughly trained 
both watches of firemen in their duties. 

During the forenoon Tom Speers saw Miss Rodwood 
for the first time since the stirring event of the early 
morning. She expressed her gratitude to him in the 
warmest terms, and Tom thought she was prettier than 
ever. 

“ You bear a name which has been familiar to me 
for some years, Miss Rodwood,” said Tom, trying to 
turn the conversation from his own gallant deed. 
“Judge Rodwood was my uncle’s most intimate friend, 
but I have ho acquaintance with his family; and possi- 
bly you are his daughter.” 


120 


ISLES OF THE SEA ; OR, 


“I am not his daughter: he has no children. Judge 
Rodwood is my uncle ; and he is a very intimate friend 
of Mr. Frisbone.” 

“ Yes ; and he was very anxious to find you, young 
man,” said the Prince, who joined the party in the 
cabin at this moment. 

“ He was more anxious to find me than I was to have 
him find me,” replied Tom, laughing. 

“ Your uncle has left you a big fortune, and ap- 
pointed the judge your guardian. Didn’t you get a 
despatch and some letters from him?” asked the 
Prince. 

“ I received a despatch and a letter from him,” re- 
plied Tom. 

“ Then, why under the sun didn’t you answer it, or go 
to London at once ? ” demanded the Prince, who sup- 
posed he had not received any thing from the judge. 

Tom honestly explained why he had not opened the 
letter. 

“If you have any influence with Judge Rodwood, I 
hope you will use it to induce him to allow me to 
remain in the academy squadron,” continued Tom. 

“ I certainly will ; for I believe it is the best institu- 
tion in the world,” replied the Prince heartily. 

“ Sail on the starboard bow !.” shouted the lookout 
in the foretop of the Tritonia, loudly enough to be 
heard on board of the steamer. 

This announcement put an end to the conversation, 
for all were anxious to know whether or not the sail 
was the Josephine. All the glasses on board were 
pointed at the white spot on the ocean in the distance. 
A gentle breeze was blowing from the south-east, and 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 


121 


the vessel had all sail set ; but she was too far off for 
the officers of the steamer to determine what she was. 

“ On board the Ville d’Angers ! ” shouted the officer 
of the deck on the Tritonia. 

Raymond answered the hail ; and the order came 
from Capt. Wainwright, to head the steamer to the 
south-west. This course was directly towards the 
distant sail. At six bells in the forenoon watch, all 
hands were assured that the sail was the Josephine. 
Wainwright ordered three guns to be fired on board of 
the steamer, to attract the attention of her people ; for 
the wind was freshening, and the chase was likely to 
be prolonged. Mr. Frisbone, who had fired the guns 
which answered as signals of distress, attended to this 
duty, though the students were very anxious to assist, 
especially in pulling the lock-string. 

The signals were heard on board of the Josephine; 
and she .came about, and stood towards the steamer and 
her tow. In half an hour the vessels were within hail- 
ing distance. 

“ Steamer ahoy ! ” shouted Robinson, the officer of 
the deck on board of the Josephine. 

“ On board of the Josephine ! ” replied Raymond. 

“ What steamer is that ? ” 

“The Ville d’Angers, towing the Tritonia.” 

While this conversation was going on, the crew of 
the Josephine were getting out the second cutter; and, 
when it was lowered into the water, Mr. Pelham 
stepped on board. The boat pulled for the Tritonia, 
which had been cast off by the steamer, and had 
heaved to under the lee of the Josephine. The vice- 
principal boarded her, and was received by Capt. 
Wainwright, cap in hand. 


122 


ISLES OF THE SEA ; OR. 


“ I am very glad to see you, Mr. Pelham,” said 
Wain wright, as they shook hands. 

“ I did not expect to see the Tritonia again till she 
arrived at Funchal,” replied the vice-principal. 

“ I am glad you have come, sir,” said Professor 
Primback in a severe tone. “ I am sorry to be obliged 
to charge Wainwright with gross insubordination during 
your absence, Mr. Pelham.” 

“ I will hear your complaint at another time, Mr. 
Primback,” replied the vice-principal. 

“ I think it would be more proper to hear it at the 
present time,” added the professor. “ I have suspended 
Wainwright and Scott from duty ; and I wish to know 
whether or not my authority is to be sustained. No 
attention whatever has been paid to my directions. If 
you have any orders to give, you will please regard 
Greenwood as the captain, and Alexander as the first 
lieutenant.” 

The professor then retired to the cabin. 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 


123 


CHAPTER IX. 

THE NEW SHIP’S COMPANY. 

T HE vice-principal was very much perplexed at the 
condition of things he found on board of the Tri- 
tonia. He was greatly annoyed that his involuntary 
absence had raised a tempest in the vessel. He was 
astonished to find the schooner in tow of the steamer ; 
and, before he made any inquiries into the case of dis- 
cipline, he listened to the report of the captain of the 
events which had transpired since the consorts parted 
company. 

Before Wainwright had proceeded far with his ac- 
count, the cutter which had conveyed Mr. Pelham on 
board returned with Mr. Fluxion. The two vice-prin- 
cipals heard the story, and then retired to the cabin to 
consult together in regard to it. Mr. Primback was 
called ; and his charges against the captain and the 
second lieutenant were heard. 

Wainwright and Scott were questioned in the pres- 
ence of the professor ; and, when they had retired, the 
charge against Scott was declared to be frivolous, as 
any sailor could see that it was. 

“ I think if you will read the regulations, Professor 
Primback, you will see that you had no authority to 


124 


ISLES OF THE SEA ; OR, 


suspend the captain or the second lieutenant,” said 
Mr. Fluxion, who was disgusted with the conduct of 
the instructor. 

“ I admit that the regulations give me no authority- 
over the officers of the vessel in purely nautical mat- 
ters,” replied Mr. Primback. “ I take pride and pleas- 
ure in acknowledging that I know nothing about a ship 
or its management.” 

“ It would be better if you knew enough about nau- 
tical matters to understand the duty of the officers,” 
added the senior vice-principal. “ It is very unpleas- 
ant for me to decide against you ; but the case is so 
very plain, that I can’t do otherwise.” 

“ I think you have not fully examined the premises, 
Mr. Fluxion,” continued the professor, nettled at the 
obvious displeasure of the senior authority. “ The 
scholastic department is under my direction in the 
absence of the junior vice-principal.” 

“That is admitted.” 

“ But the captain, a mere boy, may send away one- 
half of the students, and then require the other half to 
be on duty all the time in the management of the 
vessel. In other words, he may practically abolish the 
scholastic department,” added Mr. Primback triumph- 
antly, for he believed he had made out a very strong 
case. 

“ And the head of the scholastic department takes 
pride in being so ignorant of nautical affairs as to be 
incapable of judging whether or not the captain is jus- 
tified in sending away one-half of his ship’s company, 
and requiring the other half to do duty on board of 
his own vessel,” answered Mr. Fluxion, with some ex- 
citement in his manner. 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 1 25 

“ Then, as the acting principal, I may be carted all 
over the ocean at the pleasure of this boy ! ” exclaimed 
the professor. “ I may not even protest when he 
chooses to depart from the course of any boyish enter- 
prise that happens to excite his imagination. ” 

“ That is precisely the situation,” replied the senior 
vice-principal, with a smile. “ The boy will be held 
responsible for the management of the vessel ; and, if 
he depart from the prescribed course without sufficient 
reason for doing so, he would be punished for it. If 
he took the vessel out upon such a boyish expedition 
as you describe, he would certainly lose his place as 
commander.” 

“ But the boy is placed over the man : I am ignored, 
though I am old enough to be the boy’s father,” pro- 
tested the professor. 

“ The boy has no authority over you, any more than 
you have over him, in nautical matters. The sailor is 
placed over the landsman. But you forget, Mr. Prim- 
back, that this is an exceptional case. The accidental 
absence of the vice-principal in charge caused all the 
difficulty. This is a thing that is not likely to happen 
again. A sudden squall rendered it impossible for him 
to return to his vessel.” 

“ Am I to understand that you approve the conduct 
of this boy, sir? ” demanded the professor. 

“ If he had obeyed your orders, he might have been 
compelled to abandon Mr. Frisbone and the two ladies 
to their fate, to say nothing of the duty of saving the 
steamer. I do approve the conduct of Capt. Wain- 
wright ; and I think he deserves nothing but praise and 
commendaiion for what he has done. I am sure the 


1 26 


ISLES OF THE SEA ; OR, 


principal will take the same view of the matter,” re- 
plied Mr. Fluxion. 

“ Then I am to be snubbed by this boy ? ” 

“ I understand you to say that he has been courteous 
and polite to you.” 

“ I have no fault to find with his manner ; only with 
his refusal to obey me.” 

“ Then I think nothing more need be said about the 
matter. If you had confined yourself to your own 
duties, there would have been no trouble.” 

“ I consider myself censured by your decision ; and 
I desire to resign my position as an instructor in this 
institution,” added Mr. Primback, with all the dignity 
he could assume. 

“ I have nothing to do with your resignation : that 
should go to the principal,” replied Mr. Fluxion, who 
hoped to see a more reasonable person in his place, 
and one who knew a brace from a bobstay. 

The professor disappeared in his state-room, and re- 
lated his grievances to Dr. Crumples, who had no sym- 
pathy at all with him. 

The more interesting question to be settled was the 
destination of the Ville d’Angers. The vice-principals 
talked it over for some time, without coming to a con- 
clusion, and then decided to visit the steamer to confer 
with Mr. Frisbone. The Prince gave them a hearty 
greeting ; but he had no opinion in regard to the dis- 
posal of the vessel. There was no law, so far as they 
were aware, that required the vessel to be taken to one 
port rather than another ; and it was finally decided 
that the voyage to Madeira should be continued, the 
iteamer accompanying the two schooners. 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 


I 2 7 


But Mr. Fluxion was not satisfied with the present 
arrangement in regard to the ship’s company of the 
Ville d’ Angers, since it was composed of one-half of 
the Tritonia’s people, while the Josephine remained 
fully manned. He thought the burden of taking the 
steamer into port should be more equally divided be- 
tween the two vessels. Mr. Pelham doubted whether it 
was expedient to mix the two crews ; but his senior over- 
ruled his objection, and a new list was made out for the 
ship’s company of the extra vessel. The names were 
shown to O’Hara by the vice-principals. 

“ I suppose you don’t object,” said Mr. Fluxion, 
with a rather sarcastic smile ; for he was not much in- 
clined to consult the wishes of the young gentlemen 
when he detailed them for duty outside of their own 
craft. “ You will have more officers, and a larger 
crew for the steamer.” 

“Upon me sowl, I do object !” exclaimed O’Hara, 
with no little excitement in his manner, after he had 
looked at the list of officers. 

“ Well, what’s the matter now ? ” demanded the sen- 
ior vice-principal, with something like a frown on his 
bronzed face. 

“ I like the ship’s company we have now a great dale 
better,” replied O’Hara decidedly. 

“ It would be quite as respectful if you should pro- 
nounce the English language properly when you ad- 
dress your superior officers,” added Mr. Fluxion, who 
was by far the severest disciplinarian in the squadron. 

“ I beg your pardon, sir,” said O’Hara, touching his 
cap, and taking it off while he bowed low to the senior 
officer present. “ I did not intend to be disrespectful.” 


*28 


ISLES OF THE SEA ; OR, 


“ Very well, Mr. O’Hara : you have shown that you 
can speak English as well as French, Italian, and 
Irish,” replied Mr. Fluxion, his face relaxing into a 
smile again. “ What objection have you to the list in 
your hand ? ” 

“I like the present detail better, sir.” 

“ That is no answer to my question. What objec- 
tion have you ? ” 

“ The first is, that this reduces Mr. Speers to the 
rank of second officer, when he has done all the hard 
work of putting the steamer into sailing-trim as first.” 

“ If an officer from the Tritonia has the command, 
the Josephine should have the second place on board,” 
added Mr. Fluxion. 

“ I think that is quite fair,” interposed Mr. Pelham. 

“ I think so myself, if the Josephine is to take part 
in getting the vessel into port,” continued O’Hara, who 
could not help recognizing the fairness of the senior’s 
decision. “ But my second objection is to mixing the 
two crews at all.” 

“ I see no objection to that,” said Mr. Fluxion. 

“ I’m afraid they won’t agree together,” suggested 
O’Hara, shaking his head. 

“ If there is any danger of a disagreement of this 
kind, it is time the two crews were mingled, so that 
they may learn a new lesson in discipline.” 

“ There has always been a good deal of rivalry and 
some hard feeling among the different vessels of the 
squadron, sir,” continued O’Hara; and it is probable 
that the boy knew more about this matter than the man, 
«vnd the junior vice-principal, who had been a student in 
institution, understood it better than the senior. 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 


I29 


“ I can conceive of no disagreement among officers 
and seamen while on duty. You are to be in command 
of the steamer, Mr. O’Hara ; and if any one from the 
Josephine refuses to obey your orders, or makes trouble 
on board, you will promptly report it to me ; and, if the 
offender is an officer, he shall take the lowest number 
in the ship,” replied the stern disciplinarian, with the 
feeling, that, if there were any such insubordination in 
the vessel, he would like to get hold of it. 

“ But the vessels may be separated again, as they 
have been before,” suggested O’Hara, who was cer- 
tainly very much opposed to having any of the Joseph- 
ine’s officers under his command. 

“ We are not likely to be separated again : we have 
had one hard storm, and we are not in much danger of 
having another before we get to Madeira, which will be 
in three or four days at the most.” 

“I will do the best I can, sir,” replied O’Hara, 
touching his cap to the senior. 

“ I don’t like to have the students s^rve as firemen,” 
continued Mr. Fluxion. “ Possibly I may be able to 
find a crew of firemen for the steamer.” 

“ How will it be possible for you to find a crew of 
firemen here in mid-ocean ? ” asked Mr. Pelham, smil- 
ing with incredulity. 

“The Josephine has not been without an adventure 
any more than the Tritonia,” replied Mr. Fluxion. 
“Yesterday morning at daylight we picked up a boat in 
which were six men. They are all Frenchmen and Ital- 
ians ; and say their steamer was sunk in a collision with 
another vessel in the night. Most of the crew and pas- 
sengers got on board of the other vessel, and they took 


130 


ISLES OF THE SEA ; OR, 


a boat to go to her ; but it was upset in the heavy sea. 
They righted the boat, and all but one of them succeeded 
in getting into it again ; but the other vessel was out 
of sight in the fog then, and they were unable to find 
her. This is the story they tell ; and I have no doubt 
it is true. Very likely they belonged to the Ville d’An- 
gers.” 

“If they d‘d, how was it possible for you to have 
picked them up ? ” asked Mr. Pelham. 

“ The steamer could not have been a great way from 
either of us when you heard the guns, though the Tri- 
tonia, as we may see by comparing the reckoning, was 
considerably to the northward of the Josephine,” added 
Mr. Fluxion. 

“ But where are these men ? They have recognized 
the steamer by this time, if she was the one in which 
they were employed.” 

“ Probably they have not seen her yet,” replied Mr. 
Fluxion, laughing. “ They slept all day yesterday ; 
and, as I did not see them on deck when I left the 
schooner, I suppose they are sleeping off another day. 
They asked for wine, and insisted that they must have 
it ; and they have slept all the time since I told them 
we had none on board.” 

The change was announced to the ship’s company 
of the Ville d’Angers ; and the half-dozen students who 
were required to return to the Tritonia were indignant 
and dissatisfied ; but none of them dared say any thing 
in the presence of Mr. Fluxion. They were ordered 
into the Josephine’s boat, and left on board of their 
own vessel. The cutter then proceeded to the Joseph- 
ine, and both vice-principals boarded her. O’Hara 
went with them. 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 131 

It was found that the men picked up in the boat 
were still asleep under the top-gallant forecastle, where 
quarters had been fixed up for* them. Mr. Shakings, 
the adult boatswain of the Josephine, was directed to 
call them ; and they soon presented themselves in the 
waist, where the vice-principals were waiting to examine 
them in regard to their vessel. They were a very hard- 
looking set of men ; and it was evident enough that 
severe discipline would be required to keep them in 
order. 

As soon as they came on deck, they discovered the 
Ville d’ Angers, which lay astern of the Josephine. 
They threw up their hands in astonishment when they 
saw her, and uttered a great many wild exclama- 
tions. 

“ What was the name of your steamer ? ” asked Mr. 
Fluxion in French. 

“ The Ville d’ Angers,” replied one of them ; and 
then they all indulged in another volley of exclama- 
tions. 

“ Is that the Ville d’Angers ? ” inquired the senior, 
pointing at the steamer. 

“ It is not possible ! ” shouted several of them at 
once. “ She was sunk. A big hole was cut in her 
bow ; and the water was pouring into her when we left 
her.” 

They all talked together, and it was almost impossible 
to understand them. Some spoke in French, and others 
in Italian ; for it appeared that there was a scarcity of 
Frenchmen, so many of them had gone into the army. 
The most intelligent one was an Italian ; and he was 
conducted to the quarter-deck, where O’Hara was in- 


I32 ISLES OF THE SEA ; OR, 

structed to question him. But all the information 
needed had been obtained from Mr. Frisbone. 

This man said his name was Alfonzo. He was 
asked if he and his companions were willing to work 
as firemen of the steamer on the trip to Funchal, if 
they received good wages. Then the fellow put on a 
cunning look, and it was plain that he was disposed to 
drive a sharp bargain. He thought a moment; and 
the interpreter saw that he was studying up some hard 
terms, and was going to ask for something which he 
regarded as exorbitant. 

“ We worked on the Ville d’ Angers six days for 
which we have received no pay,” said Alfonzo, with a 
cunning leer on his face. “ Pay us for this time, and 
we will work on the steamer.” 

“ What were your wages on the steamer ? ” asked 
O’Hara. 

The fellow hesitated a moment, and then said three 
francs a day. O’Hara reported the substance of Al- 
fonzo’s reply to the senior, at the same time express- 
ing his belief that the Italian was lying, and that the 
firemen — for such they all were — had not been paid 
more than two francs, or at most not more than two 
and a half. 

“ Sixty cents a day is little enough for men who work 
in the fire-room of a ship at sea ; and they shall have 
their own price,” replied Mr. Fluxion. 

O’Hara informed Alfonzo that his terms were ac- 
ceded to, and he was told to settle the matter with his 
companions. He looked quite sad, instead of rejoi- 
cing that his terms had been accepted : he was sorry 
that he had not asked more. The others assented. 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 133 

“ This young gentleman is the captain of the steam- 
er,” said Mr. Fluxion, pointing to O’Hara. 

The firemen all laughed as they surveyed him from 
head to foot ; and possibly they thought they should 
have an easy time of it on board of the Ville d’ An- 
gers, if she was to be managed by boys like those of 
the Tritonia. They were ordered into the boat, and 
were put on board of the steamer. 

“ Mr. Speers particularly desires that the studies 
may be continued while we are on board of the steam- 
er,” said O’Hara, when the men had been sent away. 

“ Speers ! ” exclaimed the senior vice-principal, evi- 
dently astonished at the suggestion. “ He is the young 
man who went from the steerage up to first master, and 
whose guardian is looking for him, I believe.” 

“ The same, sir.” 

“ He shall be gratified ; and Capt. Fairfield, our 
extra instructor, who is the most versatile scholar in 
the squadron, shall be transferred to the Ville d’An- 
gers,” added Mr. Fluxion. 

“Capt. Fairfield!” exclaimed O’Hara, afraid the 
instructor might be a sailor, and be placed over his 
head as an acting vice-principal ; for, like most young 
men, he preferred to have the supreme command of the 
vessel. 

“ He is a West-Pointer, and knows no more about a 
ship than a marine ; though he is perfect in the theory 
of navigation,” Mr. Fluxion explained. “ You will 
divide your authority with no one, Mr. O’Hara. I 
shall send boatswain Shakings of this vessel with you 
to look out for your rigging.” 

“ What are my orders in case the vessels should be 


i34 


ISLES OF THE SEA ; OR, 


separated ? ” asked the young commander of the Ville 
d’ Angers, though he was a year older than a young 
man we knew who bad the full command of a thou- 
sand-ton ship ; or another who brought his bark safely 
into port through the worst storm of the season. 

“I suppose you would prefer to have your steamer 
separated from the rest of the squadron,” added Mr. 
Fluxion, laughing. 

“ I beg your pardon, sir ; but I might have run for 
any port in the world when I had the steamer all to 
myself : but, instead of that, I went to look for the 
Tritonia,” replied the captain, a little hurt by the re- 
mark of the senior. 

“You did exceedingly well, Capt. O’Hara; and I 
may add that I have full confidence in you. I know of 
no officer in the squadron whom I should prefer for 
the service to which Capt. Wain wright first appointed 
you ; and I commend him for the good judgment he 
exercised in his selection. I only wonder that he did 
not appoint Scott, who is a prime favorite of his.” 

“I thank you, sir,” replied O’Hara, touching his cap. 
“ But Mr. Scott is a good officer, sir.” 

“ As good as any in the squadron, but not the best 
for an independent command,” added the senior. 

By this time the cutter had returned ; and the Jo- 
sephine’s portion of the crew of the Ville d’ Angers 
were sent on board. The Tritonia’s part were already 
on duty. As soon as the boat was hoisted up at the 
davits, the two schooners filled away. A six-knot 
breeze was blowing, and they were soon at a considera- 
ble distance from the steamer; for O’Hara had been 
instructed to station his ship’s company under the new 
arrangement before he got under way. 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 1 35 

He immediately called all hands, now consisting of 
six officers and twenty-four seamen beside himself. As 
he had twelve hands in each watch, he divided each 
into quarter-watches. He appointed four quartermas- 
ters, who were to have charge of the wheel under the 
officer of the deck, and a few petty officers for other 
duties. The state rooms were assigned to the students ; 
and the regulations of the academy squadron declared 
to be in full force on board, so far as they were applic- 
able. 

“ It is now four bells in the afternoon watch ; and 
the second part of the starboard watch has the deck,” 
said Capt. O’Hara, when all the arrangements had been 
completed. “ The officers and seamen will take their 
stations.” 

Raymond was the officer of the second part of the 
watch indicated ; and he repaired to the pilot-house to 
assume his duties. The quartermaster of the second 
part was there, with a seaman to assist at the wheel. 

“ I don’t like this arrangement, ” said Gregory, the 
first officer, who had been fourth lieutenant of the 
Josephine, as he followed the captain forward. 

“ I am sorry you don’t, Mr. Gregory,” replied 
O’Hara, rather coldly. 

“ I don’t think there is any need of quarter-watches 
in this steamer,” added the first officer, with more 
emphasis than before. 

“ I don’t think so either,” chimed in Clinch, the third 
master of the Josephine. 

“ That shows that we differ in opinion a little taste,” 
returned O’Hara with a smile. “ You may start her 
now, Mr. Raymond,” continued the captain, when he 
came to the pilot-house. 


i 3 6 


ISLES OF THE SEA ; OR, 


“ Start her, sir,” repeated Raymond. “ One bell, 
quartermaster.” 

“ One bell, sir,” returned the quartermaster, as he 
pulled the handle on the wheel-frame. 

The screw began to turn slowly, and the Ville 
d’Angers went ahead. A few minutes later the speed 
bell was rung, and the steamer increased her rate to 
something like ten knots an hour, though she was 
capable of making twelve or more. But a thick fog 
had settled down upon the ocean, and nothing could be 
seen of the rest of the little fleet. The captain ordered 
the regular fog-signal to be sounded at intervals, and 
a sharp lookout to be kept for the other vessels. 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 


137 


CHAPTER X. 

SOMETHING ABOUT THE MADEIRA ISLANDS. 

O N board of the Josephine and the Tritonia, the 
number sent away rendered it necessary to re- 
organize the watches. While the vice-principals were 
attending to this duty, the wind suddenly changed, so 
that the vessels could not lay their course ; and it had 
headed them off till they were standing nearly to the 
southward. At the same time the fog shut out the 
Ville d’Angers from view. For a time after the course 
had been changed, the fog-signals of the steamer were 
heard ; and then they ceased. 

As the steamer was not disturbed by the change of 
wind, Mr. Fluxion feared she would run ahead of the 
little squadron, and lose sight of her associates. He 
directed the captain to tack after the Josephine had 
run some five miles to the southward, so as to keep 
somewhere on the track of the steamer. The fog was 
very deep and dense, and he wondered that the Ville 
had ceased to whistle. He was not prepared to believe 
that the captain of the steamer would wilfully run 
away from her consorts ; and the situation puzzled him. 
The Tritonia was near enough to hear the signals of 
the other schooner ; and there was little danger of 


138 ISLES OF THE SEA ; OR. 

losing sight of each other unless heavy weather came 
on, of which there were some indications. 

The captains had consulted their barometers as soon 
as the watches had been re-arranged. Wain wright was 
astonished to observe a considerable fall of the instru- 
ment ; and he immediately reported the fact to Mr. 
Pelham, and Capt. Vroome did the same to Mr. 
Fluxion. Every preparation was at once made for 
heavy weather ; and they had it before dark. 

While the fog was still hanging over the ocean, the 
wind began to come in heavy gusts, and all the light 
sails were hastily taken in. Just after dark the fog 
lifted, or was driven to seaward by the strong breeze. 
The vice-principals looked anxiously for the lights of 
the Ville d’ Angers ; but nothing could be seen of them 
in any direction. During the night the wind blew a 
fierce gale from the southward. At daylight the gale 
had moderated, but the fog settled down on the water 
again. Nothing was seen or heard of the steamer. 
For three days more, in all sorts of weather, though 
the wind was generally contrary, the schooners con- 
tinued on their course, and then arrived safely at 
Funchal. 

“ There is the Prince at anchor off the Loo Rock ! ” 
exclaimed Mr. Pelham, as the Tritonia approached the 
town of Funchal. 

“ That’s an odd-looking rock,” added Scott, who 
heard the remark. “ It looks like the head of the sea- 
serpent, with a fort built on the top of his cranium.” 

“ That fort commands the harbor, if we can call this 
a harbor when it has no shelter from any storm from 
the east or south, where most of the tempests of this 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 


139 


region come from,” continued the vice-principal, who 
had been at these islands before. “ The rock is 
seventy feet high ; and the Portuguese have made it 
impossible to climb up its steep sides, except by the 
steps opposite the island. The top of it is three hun- 
dred feet long by a hundred wide ; and this space is 
covered by a fort, mounting fourteen guns, which is 
always kept garrisoned, as a sort of regulator of the 
vessels in the roadstead. If they don’t obey orders, 
and follow the rules of the port, a gun from that fort 
will remind them of the neglect ; and any attempt to 
evade them will bring a shot.” 

“ There is a mole, or something of that kind,” added 
Scott, who was off duty, and was privileged to observe 
che wonders of the shore. 

“ That is the Pontinha. It is a sort of breakwater, 
though it affords no great protection to vessels, which 
are sometimes obliged to get up their anchors, and 
work out to sea, to avoid being cast upon the rocks. 
It is an embankment built out to a small island on 
which is the fort of San Josd. You see that the ves- 
sels behind the Loo Rock are moored in a line. They 
are made fast to heavy cables, secured by iron bolts 
to the rock at the bow, while a stern line is carried to 
the shore of the main island. The bottom is very 
rocky, and the holding ground is not good.” 

All hands were called to be ready to moor ship ; but 
even this was not allowable until the health officers 
had visited the schooners, and a government boat had 
been alongside. When these formalities were all com- 
pleted, the two vessels hauled in beside the American 
Prince, and were moored like the other craft. 


140 


ISLES OF THE SEA ; OR, 


As soon as the rules of the port would permit it, — 
for no vessel can communicate with the shore, or with 
another vessel, until the proper permits are obtained, 
— the vice-principals went on board of the Prince to 
report to the principal, who of course had no intima- 
tion of the stirring events which had transpired on the 
passage from Gibraltar. The boat’s crew that pulled 
them to the steamer boarded the Prince; and the stu- 
dents told the story of the Ville d’ Angers, though the 
Princes had nothing of interest to relate in return, for 
the ship had not sailed till the violence of the storm 
had abated, and had made a tolerably comfortable 
voyage. 

The Princes thought the fellows in the picked-up 
steamer were having a jolly time of it ; and most of 
them were willing to believe they had taken it into 
their heads to go off on a cruise by themselves, and 
would return when they got ready. Scott defended 
O’Hara from the implied charges against him, and was 
confident the Ville d’Angers would soon arrive. 

“ It will be a big lark for those fellows,” insisted 
McLane, the fourth lieutenant of the Prince. 

“ It’s no lark at all, Mack,” replied Scott. “ O’Hara 
is a countryman of yours, and you judge him by your- 
self.” 

“That’s so!” exclaimed McLane. “If I had the 
command of a fine steamer like the Ville d’Angers, I 
don’t think I should hurry to get into port with 
her.” 

“ That will do for you, but not for O’Hara. When 
he gets out to sea he knows the way back,” added 
Scott. 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 


141 

“You won’t ^ee that steamer for a week at the least,” 
persisted McLane. 

“ I can’t say that we shall ; but, if we don’t, it will 
not be for any fault of O’Hara.” 

“If it were my case, I would take the steamer to 
New York, stopping at the ‘Isles of the Sea’ on the 
way, making sure that I kept out of the way of the 
academy squadron all the time,” continued the lieu- 
tenant of the Prince. 

“ It’s easy enough for you to tell what you would do, 
Mack ; but the principal knows you well enough not to 
trust you with a mud-scow, to say nothing of a fine 
steamer like the Ville d’ Angers.” 

“ Don’t you think I could handle a steamer as well 
as O’Hara? ” demanded the Prince, a little nettled by 
the raillery of the Tritonia. 

“ Perhaps you could ; but you couldn’t find your way 
to the port named in your orders, according to your 
own confession.” 

“ Well, O’Hara hasn’t done it yet.” 

“ But he will do it, unless there is some good reason 
to prevent him from doing so.” 

This sort of banter continued till the vice-principals 
came out of the main cabin with Mr. Lowington. The 
principal of the squadron had listened with the deepest 
interest to the narration of the subordinate officials. 
When he was informed that thirty-one of the students 
were on board of the steamer, on their way to the 
Madeiras, or roaming at their own pleasure over the 
ocean, he looked very anxious and troubled. The fact 
that Mr. Frisbone was with them afforded him some 
relief. 


142 


ISLES OF THE SEA ; OR, 


“ I am rather sorry that one of you had not gone 
with them,” added he, fixing his gaze upon the cabin 
floor. 

“ Possibly one of us might, if our experience on the 
day we sailed from Gibraltar had not taught us better,” 
replied Mr. Fluxion ; who, as the senior vice-principal, 
was responsible for all that had been done after the 
Ville d’Angers overhauled the Josephine. “I thought 
Mr. Pelham was very indiscreet to leave his vessel, 
even to board mine on business, and I was not disposed 
to have the mistake repeated.” 

This statement brought in the earlier history of the 
eventful cruise, and the junior vice-principal delivered 
the letter from Judge Rodwood to the principal. He 
read it, and then listened to the account of Tom Speers’s 
running away from the fortune in store for him. 

“The judge can have Speers as soon as he wants 
him,” added Mr. Lowington. “ A student with three 
millions behind him, and a letter of credit for four thou- 
sand dollars in his pocket, is a nuisance.” 

“ I think not, sir, in this case,” interposed Mr. Pel- 
ham. “ Speers is a very ambitious young man : he 
jumped from the steerage to first master of the Tritonia. 
and contrived to avoid going to London to meet Judge 
Rodwood because he was not willing to leave the 
vessel. He desires to finish his course ; and there is 
not a better sailor or a more faithful student in the 
squadron.” 

“ I am glad to hear you speak so well of him ; but 
this letter contains a request that he be discharged 
from the academy, and be sent to London. I am asked 
to telegraph that he is on his way.” 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 


*43 


“ It is too late to do any thing of that kind now,” 
added Mr. Pelham. “ Speers did not open the letter 
which enclosed this one till the Tritonia was at sea ; 
and he did not open the telegraph despatch for the 
reason that he did not believe it was for him.” 

“ He has managed it very well. This letter contains 
a request from his former and from his present guard- 
ian ; but the young man is not here, and I cannot 
discharge him. Should I do so, it is not probable that 
he would find his guardian in London if I sent him 
there : I shall therefore do nothing till I receive further 
instructions,” continued the principal. “But this is a 
matter of little consequence compared with the cruise 
of this French steamer.” 

Again the principal inquired into all the circum- 
stances of the parting of the vessels in the fog. Both 
of the vice-principals assured him that the captain of 
the Vilfe d’Angers was an entirely reliable student in 
every respect, and that he was too high-toned to go off 
on an independent cruise. 

“ I supposed the steamer had got in ahead of us 
while we were standing to the southward, and that we 
should find her in Funchal on our arrival,” explained 
Mr. Fluxion. 

“ If that were the case, she ought to have been here 
yesterday,” replied the principal. “ What do you sup- 
pose can have detained her ? ” 

“ I can imagine a dozen circumstances which may 
have delayed her, and none of them may be the proper 
explanation,” answered the senior vice-principal. 
“ There was a smart gale in the night, after w r e parted ; 
but I can hardly conceive of such a thing as the Ville 


144 


ISLES OF THE SEA ; OR, 


d’ Angers, which was a nearly new vessel, and sea- 
worthy in every respect, foundering in such a light 
storm. She may have broken her shaft, or deranged 
her machinery.” 

“ That would compel her to come in under sail,” 
suggested the principal. 

“ She is well found in every respect ; for I directed 
Shakings to overhaul her, and report to me. But it 
may take her two or three days longer than it has the 
schooners to get here. The officers may have had 
trouble with the foreign firemen, for I think they were 
a desperate set of villains. But Mr. Frisbone, Shak- 
ings, Rimmer, the cook, and two stewards, make six 
full-grown men ; and some of the students are about 
equal to able-bodied men : so that, if there has been a 
fight on board, I am confident our side has got the best 
of it,” continued Mr. Fluxion, who was a muscular 
Christian, and rather enjoyed the idea of reducing the 
firemen to a proper state of subjection if they attempted 
to put on airs. 

“ Raymond, the fourth officer, is as brave a fellow 
as ever trod a deck ; and I will match him against any 
two of those firemen,” added Mr. Pelham, who also 
had some taste for a fight in a good cause. 

“ I sincerely hope that nothing of the kind has 
occurred on board of the steamer,” said Mr. Lowing- 
ton, who was thoroughly a man of peace, and justified 
no fighting that could possibly be avoided. 

“ I don’t think any thing of the kind has occurred, 
and I mentioned it only as a possibility. It is more 
probable that some derangement of the machinery of 
the vessel had delayed her ; and I shall expect her to 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 


145 


come into port within two or three days,” continued 
Mr. Fluxion. “In the mean time, the students on 
board are pursuing their studies, so that there will be 
no time lost.” 

The vice-principals returned to their respective ves- 
sels ; but the principal could not help being very anx- 
ious for the safety of the thirty-one students on board 
of the Ville d’Angers. Possibly he was not so confident 
as his junior officers that the young men had not gone 
“ on a lark ” in the vessel. While this conversation 
was going on, the signal, “ All hands attend lecture,” 
had been displayed on board of the steamer. All the 
boats were in the water, and the students were soon 
assembled in the American Prince. As usual, there 
was a large map of the country to be described, hung 
where all the pupils could see it. In this instance it 
was a map of the Madeira Islands, drawn on a large 
scale by the professor himself. Mr. Mapps stood by 
it with a long pointer in his hand, when the students 
took their places. 

“The Madeiras are a group of five islands,” the 
professor began, flourishing the pointer over the map 
to attract the attention of his audience. “ They are 
some six hundred miles from Lisbon, four hundred 
from the nearest part of the African coast, and five 
hundred from the nearest of the Azores. The princi- 
pal island is called Madeira, from which Porto Santo, 
the only other island of any importance, is only thirty- 
five miles distant. The other three islands are called 
the Desertas : they are. merely uninhabited rocks. 

“ Madeira arid Porto Santo contain an area of three 
hundred and seventeen square miles, which is equal to 


146 


ISLES OF THE SEA ; OR, 


about one-fourth of the State of Rhode Island ; and 
contain a population of one hundred and sixteen thou- 
sand inhabitants, or about half that of the same State. 

“ Both of the inhabited islands are mountainous in 
their structure, and are mostly bordered by steep cliffs 
on the sea. Soundings are obtained by the ordinary 
deep-sea lead only close to the shore ; and even there 
the water is over two hundred feet deep. Though the 
island is of volcanic origin, only one crater is to be 
found in the mountains. The greatest elevation is 
about six thousand feet. 

“ Funchal is the principal town, and has about twenty 
thousand inhabitants. Its principal business is in 
wine and fruit. In later years the vine has failed to a 
great extent, and the commerce of the island has been 
greatly reduced. Many of the inhabitants are in a 
state of destitution ; and beggars are more common 
here than in most of the countries of Europe. 

“These islands, as well as the Western, or Azores, 
are dependencies of the kingdom of Portugal. They 
are represented in the legislature of that country, and 
have, besides, a local government of their own. The 
currency of the islands is the same as that of Portugal ; 
and you will find here most of the manners and cus- 
toms of that country. Possibly some of you will think 
you have been here before. The city, like Messina in 
Sicily, which you will remember, is built on a small 
plain, watered by three little streams that rise in the 
interior of the island, or on the surrounding hills. 
Indeed, the island is very like Sicily. 

“ One of the great natural curiosities of Madeira is 
the Coural, or Curral, as different writers call it. It 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 1 47 

is an immense chasm, with perpendicular sides, thirteen 
hundred feet deep. It is near the middle of the island ; 
and, if the time permits, I believe you will take a walk 
to it ; for there are no carriages in the country, or any 
roads that are practicable for them. People who can 
not or will not walk have to be transported by man- 
power. In some parts they slide down the steep hills 
on sleds, as boys coast on the snow at home. The 
roads most travelled are paved with cobble-stones, or 
the heavy rains would wash them entirely away ; and 
they are thus made the smoother for the sleds. A 
kind of sled, called a ‘buey cart/ drawh by oxen, is 
also used to some extent. A hammock swung on a 
long pole, the ends of which are borne on the shoulders 
of two men, would seem to be the most natural con- 
veyance for a sailor. 

“ You will have an opportunity to see the country 
and the city for yourselves, and I will not describe 
them to you. The people are very gentlemanly and 
polite, though I believe they are no more given to hard 
work than the natives of the mother country. The 
island is a great resort for invalids, especially those 
with pulmonary complaints ; and the same is true of 
the Azores. The average temperature is sixty-four 
degrees. A hot south-west wind, which comes over 
from the great desert of Africa, sometimes carries the 
mercury up to eighty degrees, though the heat in sum- 
mer rarely exceeds seventy. But the quality of the 
climate depends upon the uniformity of its tempera- 
ture. There are no sudden changes ; and one month 
will not differ from the one before more than two or 
three degrees. But Dr. Winstock, who spent a winter 


ISLES OF THE SEA ; OR, 


in the island, informs me that he has seen some very 
disagreeable weather here.” 

Professor Mapps finished his brief lecture, leaving 
much to be learned by the students in their walks about 
the city and the island. The boats of the Tritonia and 
Josephine returned ; and what was left of the day was 
used by the officers and seamen in looking at the 
strange sights that might be seen from the decks of the 
vessels. 

As the squadron was to remain some days at Fun- 
chal, study and recitations were not entirely suspended ; 
but, as both watches could be engaged at the same 
time, the full routine was completed at one o’clock, and 
the rest of the day was improved on shore. Dr. Win- 
stock took under his care for the excursion, Sheridan 
and Murray of the Prince, and Wainwright and Scott 
of the Tritonia. 

“This is a rough harbor for a commercial town,” 
said Capt. Sheridan, as he landed from the boat, and 
looked back to survey the beach, on which the sea was 
breaking with considerable force. 

“ It is a very poor harbor,” replied the doctor. 
“ Sometimes the sea is so high in the roadstead, that it 
is not safe for vessels to lie at anchor ; and a govern- 
ment boat goes to them, and advises them to get to 
sea.” 

“ What sort of a boat do you call that? ” asked Scott, 
as he pointed to a very handsome barge near the shore. 
“ The sailors have coalhods, with marline spikes stick- 
ing out of the tops.” 

“That is a government boat, as you may see by the 
uniform of the officers in it. The cap of the boatmen 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 1 49 

looks something like an inverted tunnel. But they 
have a nice time of it under that awning.” 

The doctor’s party by his advice had decided to use 
their first half-day on shore in making a visit to the 
church of “ Nossa Senhora do Monte,” or “Our Lady of 
the Mountain,” which is located on a hill nearly two 
thousand feet above the sea. The place affords a 
beautiful view of Funchal and its surroundings. It was 
an up-hill walk ; but most of the ascent was gradual, 
though a portion of it was very steep. On the way 
they had an opportunity to see some of the modes of 
conveyance mentioned by the professor of geography 
and history. 

“ It don’t seem to me that I should feel very com- 
fortable to have men carrying me about the island,” 
said Murray, as he stopped to see one of the ham- 
mocks, which was not unlike a palanquin. “ I should 
feel as though I were a burden upon my own kind.” 

u They have very good horses here, though they are 
rather small, — about the size of those they use for the 
ascent of Mount Vesuvius.” 

At last the church was reached after a most fatiguing 
tramp, for the students had not got on their land legs. 
Most of the way, the road, paved with cobble-stones, 
was enclosed by a wall over which none of the party 
were tall enough to see ; and this made the walk dis- 
mal at times, though they always had a view when look- 
ing behind them. But this wall was covered with 
vines ; and, as it was spring-time, the air was laden with 
the perfume of flowers. 

There is nothing about the church worth seeing ; and 
the business of the day was concluded by ascending 


ISLES OF THE SEA j OR, 


1 5 ° 

one of the two towers that crown the building, where 
the party remained till sunset. The church faces the 
sea ; and from the elevated tower a panorama of a por- 
tion of the city and a great deal of magnificent scenery 
was spread out before the observers ; and they returned 
to their vessels delighted with the excursion. 

Mr. Lowington was pacing the quarter-deck of the 
Prince when the students returned ; and it was observed 
that he cast frequent glances to seaward in search of 
the missing steamer, but she did not put in an appear- 
ance in the offing that night. 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 


15 * 


CHAPTER XI. 

BUDDING VINES AND ORANGE-GROVES. 

T HE night passed away, and the morning, and the 
Ville d’Angers did not appear off the island. 
The principal had a long and anxious conference with 
Mr. Fluxion. There was only one thing it was possible 
to do, and that was to send the Prince in search of the 
missing steamer ; but it was decided to wait a day or 
two longer before this was done. 

The next afternoon the doctor and his little party 
landed in the city, and began to explore the place. 
After months of constant sight-seeing, they found little 
in the way of public buildings, squares, or streets, to 
engage their attention, and were more inclined to get 
out into the country among the budding flowers and 
orange-groves. 

“ That’s one of the carts we read of,” said Scott, 
laughing, as he stopped to view a sort of sled on which 
a yoke of small oxen were hauling a pipe of wine. 

“ It is one of the kind we see in Funchal, and else- 
where in the island,” replied the doctor. “ Wheels are 
not practicable among these hills ; and I am not sure 
that this thing pulls any harder than the car with the 
revolving axle which we saw in Portugal.” 


ISLES OF THE SEA j OR, 


r 52 

“ It certainly does not make any more music,” added 
Murray, referring to the hideous screeching of the cart 
they had seen in Lisbon. 

The sled was something like a “ stone-drag ” used in 
the New England States. It was a plank eight feet 
long and a foot and a half wide, hollowed in the middle 
so that a wine-cask will fit into it. It was four inches 
thick, and pointed off at the bow like a boat. Under 
it were two wooden runners. While the students were 
looking at it, and while the driver was still yelling with 
all his might at his diminutive cattle, a boy threw a sort 
of mop made of rope-yarns, which he had just dipped 
into a puddle of water, under the forward end of the 
sled. The runners passed over it, wetting the bottoms, 
thus making them run a little easier, and removing the 
danger of fire from friction. 

“ This is the Praca Constitucional, a very common 
name for a square in Spain and Portugal. It was 
formerly the ‘ Praca da Rainha,’ or Queen Square ; 
but the Constitution is more popular than the Queen.” 

From the square the party passed into the market- 
place adjoining it. Provisions, vegetables, fruit, prov- 
ender for horses, and wood were the articles on sale. 
It was just such a sight as* they had seen in Lisbon, 
and the venders were yelling their wares vigorously 
when any one that looked like a buyer came in sight. 
One man had a pole on his shoulder, on which were 
hung by the legs a dozen pairs of chickens, all alive, 
and kicking to the extent of their ability. Another had 
pigeons ; but he had considerately killed them before 
he suspended them on the pole. The one who drove a 
single pig had about the same luck with him as any 
other attempting this difficult feat. 


Lieutenant Scott’s 










YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 


I S3 


“ Drive him the other way ! ” shouted Scott to the 
Portuguese, pointing behind the driver. 

“ He don’t understand you,” interposed the doctor, 
translating the remark into Portuguese. 

The man laughed as though he had heard the joke 
before ; but he did not adopt the suggestion. 

“ What’s the use of that brush they have tied up in 
bundles ? ” asked Sheridan, as they paused before a 
vender of this sort of merchandise. 

“ The bakers and others use it to heat their ovens,” 
replied Dr. Winstock. “ Wood is a very scarce article 
in Madeira, though the name of the island in Portu- 
guese means ‘ wood.’ There is little or no need of fuel 
here, except for cooking purposes. Those bundles of 
little sticks are not much better than the fagots. All 
the coal has to be brought from other countries ; and 
that makes it very expensive. The wealthier people 
and the boarding-houses use it.” 

“ Boarding the invalids that come here must be a 
great business among the people,” said Wainwright, as 
they passed a group of pale consumptives, seated in 
the sun on the Praca. 

“ It is a very important item of the business of the 
island.” 

“ Do you think it does them any good to come 
here ? ” asked Scott. 

“ Undoubtedly it does ; though, if you visit the ceme- 
teries, you will find a great many English and Ameri- 
can names on the gravestones. The great difficulty is 
that those troubled with pulmonary diseases come when 
it is too late for the climate to benefit them.” 

The party passed into the principal street of the 


154 ISLES OF THE SEA; OR, 

town, which was not more than twenty-five feet wide, 
and it was a broad thoroughfare for Funchal. 

“ Every gentleman seems to be acquainted with every 
lady he meets,” said Sheridan, as they made their way 
through the crowded street. 

“ That remark applies only to the native gentlemen ; 
and it is the custom for them to lift their hats to every 
lady they meet,” replied the surgeon. 

“ I suppose that is done to make business for the 
hatters,” added Scott. 

“ No: the Portuguese are even more polite than the 
French, so far as these outward expressions are con- 
cerned ; but I doubt whether either would do as much 
for a lady who really needed assistance as Americans 
or Englishmen,” continued the doctor. “ I can’t say 
that I like to see gentlemen bowing to ladies who are 
entire strangers to them. It Is making themselves alto- 
gether too familiar, though the custom of the country 
may justify almost any thing.” 

“ This looks like Spain,” said Wainwright, pointing 
to a lot of men from the country, who were driving three 
or four donkeys each, loaded with skins filled with 
wine. “ They leave the legs of the goats on for 
handles.” 

“Those sacks look something like a goat,” added 
Murray. “ I wonder how they can sew them up tight 
enough to prevent them from leaking.” 

“ They can roll the edges of the skins together a lit- 
tle when they join them, and sew through four thick- 
nesses of the skin,” replied the doctor. 

“ Is that Madeira wine in those sacks ? ” inquired 
Murray. 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 155 

“ Probably not ; for that is a scarce article, even in 
this island, at the present time. Porto Santo, or Holy 
Port, was the first island discovered and settled. Colum- 
bus lived there for a time ; and his house is still shown. 
He married his wife there. The discovery and settle- 
ment of Madeira followed soon after ; and two years 
later the Portuguese brought from Candia or Crete a 
vine which proved to be admirably adapted to the cli- 
mate. The wine made from it became celebrated all 
over the civilized world. Like port and sherry, it ob- 
tained its peculiar flavor from the kind of grape of 
which it was made. Ten years ago, owing to the fail- 
ure of the vine-crop, there were only four hundred 
pipes of it remaining in the island, while twenty-five 
thousand pipes had once been the average quantity 
manufactured in a year. The disease attacked the 
vine nearly twenty years ago ; but the people are doing 
their best to replace it, and doubtless the commerce 
and reputation of the island will be fully restored. 
Probably the greater portion of all the wine sold for 
Madeira is not such ; and not a little of it is manufac- 
tured in the shops where it is sold, in England and 
America.” 

The party passed through the town, and went out 
into the country on the west side ; and, following the 
road up the hill, they reached the summit of the “ Pico 
de Sao Joao,” on which was a fort. From this high 
point they obtained another view of the city and its 
suburbs. Beyond the town the shore of the island was 
composed of sheer precipices, hundreds of feet in 
height. Near them was a “ quinta,” or country-house, 
of some wealthy islander, to which a beautiful garden 


156 ISLES OF THE SEA ; OR, 

was attached. As they passed the main gate of the 
grounds, a gentleman attending a very pretty young 
lady came out. Dr. Winstock raised his cap to him, 
and the young officers followed his example. 

The owner of the “quinta” politely returned the 
salutation, and spoke to the surgeon in English ; for 
many of the educated people of the island speak this 
language, and most of the foreign commerce is carried 
on with England. Two saddle-horses were standing at 
the gate, in charge of as many servants ; but the gen- 
tleman and his daughter — for such was the relation 
between them — seemed to be in no haste to mount 
their puny steeds. 

“You are English people, I see,” said he, with a 
pleasant smile. “ My house and grounds are at your 
service. This is the quinta da Sao Joao.” 

“ I thank you heartily for your courteous invitation ; 
but perhaps you may be disposed to withdraw it when 
I add that we are not English, but Americans,” replied 
Dr. Winstock. 

“ By no means ! ” exclaimed the gentleman, whom 
they afterwards heard addressed as Don Roderigue. 
“I repeat it with even more earnestness than before.” 

“Thank you, sir; and we shall be very happy to 
avail ourselves of your permission to visit your gar- 
dens.” 

“You are all officers, I see,” continued Don Roder- 
igue, who evidently had some Yankee curiosity. 

“ In one sense we are : we are all connected with the 
academy squadron, now moored in the port of Fun- 
chal.” 

The Portuguese had never heard' of it ; and the sur- 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND* 


I S7 


geon briefly explained it, and invited Don Roderigue 
to visit the ships of the squadron. He promised to do 
so, and he and the young lady proceeded to mount 
their horses. The father was safely seated on his little 
steed, and the groom was assisting the daughter to the 
saddle, when the little brute suddenly whirled about 
like a top, and started off at a dead run. Dona 
Maria’s foot had not been fairly placed in the stirrup, 
nor had she taken the reins into her hands ; so that 
she was almost helpless. 

The two grooms started after the little horse ; but, 
the faster they ran, the more intent the brute became 
to get away from them. The father uttered an excla- 
mation of anguish, and galloped his horse in the direc- 
tion the lady’s steed had taken. The students were 
almost paralyzed with fear for the safety of the beauti- 
ful girl. The runaway pony turned a corner at the end 
of the garden ; and, at this moment, Scott darted 
across the grounds, leaped over a high wall, and came 
into a road in the rear of the estate, the geography of 
which he had been studying from the top of the Pico 
de Sao Joao. He came into the road just ahead of the 
horse ; and he was a long distance in advance of the 
grooms and the lady’s father. Dona Maria had evi- 
dently lost her footing in the stirrup ; for she had 
slipped partly off the saddle, and was clinging with 
both hands to the pommel. 

Scott had thrown off his uniform coat as he ran 
across the garden, so that he might be free to act 
when he tackled the horse ; and he felt strong enough 
just then to throw him over the high wall if he could 
get hold of him. He sprang into the middle of the 


ISLES OF THE SEA ; OR, 


! 5 8 

road ; and it was nothing more than a narrow lane, 
leading to the stables of the estate, which the pony 
seemed to prefer to an excursion in the delightful air of 
the afternoon. The vicious little brute saw him, and 
attempted to pass at one side of him ; but Scott was 
quick enough to catch him by the bridle-rein. Then 
came the tug of war ; for the pony was not disposed to 
be so easily captured, and began to rear and plunge 
to disengage himself from his captor. But Scott was 
used to horses, and held on. In a moment he had 
brought the horse down sufficiently to enable him to 
put his arm around the waist of the maiden, and lift 
her to the ground. 

She was out of breath, so that she could not speak, 
though she gasped out some sentences in her native 
tongue, which Scott could not understand. She was 
too weak to stand ; and the gallant -lieutenant was com- 
pelled to hold her with one arm, and the horse with 
the other, till assistance came. Don Roderigue was 
the first to arrive upon the spot. He leaped from his 
horse, and seized his daughter in his arms. 

“ Was she thrown from the horse ? ” he asked. 

“ No, sir : I don’t think she can be much hurt,” re- 
plied Scott ; and he described her position at the mo- 
ment he had stopped the pony. 

By this time Dona Maria was able to speak for her- 
self ; and Scott thought she had a very musical voice, 
though, as she spoke in Portuguese, he could not under- 
stand a word she said. The gallop in that uncomforta- 
ble position must have jarred her frame considerably. 
The grooms came up, and took charge of the horses. 

“ Young gentleman, I owe you very great thanks for 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 


*59 


the service you have rendered to my daughter and to 
me,” said Don Roderigue, extending his hand to the 
lieutenant. 

“ Don’t mention it, sir,” exclaimed Scott, laughing 
at the earnestness of the grateful father. “ We were 
on the top of that pico, and I saw this road leading 
down to the stable. When the horse started, I thought 
it likely, as he turned the first corner, that he would 
make for the place where he got his oats ; and I took 
a short cut over here. I happened to be just in the 
nick of time for business.” 

Scott jabbered this off as fast as he could, while he 
blushed like a red rose, apparently to interrupt the 
flow of grateful expressions to which the gentleman 
was disposed to give utterance. When he had finished 
his explanation of the manner in which he had hap- 
pened to save the young lady from a greater disaster, 
she walked up to him, with a sweet smile on her face, 
and extended her hand to him. He could not do less 
than take it, though he felt and looked very sheepish 
about it. Almost any of the officers of the squadron 
who had passed the age of sixteen would have been 
delighted to take such a little hand as that ; but there 
was .not one in the whole crowd who was so little of a 
lady’s man as Scott. When he took the pretty hand, 
Maria spoke to him in Portuguese, and shook his great 
paw. 

“ Those are my sentiments exactly ; and I couldn’t 
have said it half as well myself,” he replied, with a 
broad grin on his face. 

“ Speak to him in English, Maria : he does not 
understand you,” interposed Don Roderigue. 


i6o 


ISLES OF THE SEA ; OR, 


“ I shall thank you very much for what you have did 
for me,” said she laughing, perhaps because Scott did, 
or perhaps at the quality of her own English. 

Scott bowed, touched his cap, and turned red again. 
He was very anxious to have the subject changed, and 
insisted that Madeira was a fine country. 

“ I say I shall tank you ver much for what you have 
did for me,” repeated she, evidently a little vexed. 

“ Don’t mention it. This is a delightful climate you 
have here in Madeira,” stammered Scott. 

“ He don’t understand my English,” pouted the little 
beauty, shaking her shoulders ; but, as she spoke in her 
own language, Scott could not understand her. 

“ Maria says she thanks you very much for what you 
have done for her; and she is very sorry she cannot 
make herself understood in English,” said Don Rod- 
erigue. 

“ I understood her perfectly,” replied Scott. 

“ But you told her not to mention it ; and I am sure 
that would be very ungrateful in her.” 

“ I only meant that what I did was not worth the 
trouble of mentioning it.” 

“ Now say it to him again, Maria, and he will under- 
stand you,” continued her father. 

“ I shall thank you very much for what you have 
did for me,” added Maria, turning to Scott, with a mis- 
chievous twinkle in her bright eyes. 

“ I understand you as well as though you had been 
my next-door neighbor in the United States of America 
all your lifetime,” replied Scott, with his broad grin. 

“ Oh ! now you spokes too much, and I can’t under- 
stand what you speaks,” chattered the maiden. 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. l6l 

“ I am happy to please you,” said Scott, measuring 
off the words one at a time. 

“ She has begun to learn English, and she speaks 
very little yet,” added her father. 

“ I am much glad,” shouted Maria, dancing with 
delight when she realized that her English had been 
understood. “ I shall forget you never.” 

“ Beautiful country ! ” added Scott, flourishing his 
right hand around him. 

“ Ver beaut’ful,” cried Maria. “ My horse,” and then 
she pointed at the pony, and made her hands fly up and 
down in imitation of the feet of the animal. 

“ Ran away,” replied Scott, completing the sentence 
when she broke down. 

“ My horse ran away ! ” she shouted, with childish 
vim, though she was not less than sixteen. “ You stop 
my horse. I thank you ver much for what you have 
did.” 

“ May I ride your horse ? ” asked Scott. 

“ You ? ride horse ? ” 

The young officer then indicated what he wanted in 
pantomime. Don Roderigue declared that the pony had 
always been very gentle, and had never behaved so 
badly before since he was a colt. He added that Scott 
might ride him if he wished to do so. The joker leaped 
upon his back as lightly as a cat ; but the little beast 
began to rear and plunge and dive in the most extraor- 
dinary manner. Scott was a good horseman, and the 
pony could not throw him. 

“ I am confident something ails this horse,” said he, 
dismounting. 

He then unbuckled the girth, and Don Roderigue 


l6 2 


ISLES OF THE SEA ; OR, 


ordered the groom to assist in the operation. The sad- 
dle was removed, and a large spot of blood was found 
on the skin of the horse. Scott looked at it, and found 
a wound, made by the sharp point of a nail which had 
been driven through the wooden part of the saddle- 
frame. 

“ I don’t blame the horse for making a row,” said 
Scott, as he pointed out the wound. “ Any horse would 
make a fuss with that nail sticking into him and as 
he spoke he took his knife, and dug out the offensive 
iron. 

Maria laughed and danced about all the time ; and 
when the cause of the pony’s misconduct was discovered, 
and shown to her, she began to pet the animal in the 
most loving manner. She was glad to find that her 
steed had a good excuse for his bad behavior The 
saddle was restored to his back, and Scott mounted 
him again. This time he acted as well as any pony 
could. 

“ You ride ? ” asked Scott. 

“Yes; I ride.” 

Her father did not object, and the lieutenant lifted 
her into the saddle. She cantered off as briskly as 
though nothing had happened. Don Roderigue insisted 
that Scott should mount his horse, and ride back to 
the garden gate, where he had left the rest of the party. 
In a moment he overtook the lady. She chatted and 
laughed all the way, and Scott felt more as though 
he had fallen into a sugar-bowl than ever before in 
his life. 

Don Roderigue decided to postpone his ride, and to 
entertain the party. Maria seemed not to be sorry foi 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 163 

the change of programme ; and Scott presented her to 
all his brother officers and to the surgeon. They spent 
a delightful afternoon among the budding flowers and 
orange-groves of the magnificent estate of their host. He 
was an exceedingly hospitable man, and the supper pre- 
pared for them was an elaborate banquet. He was very 
much surprised that all his guests should refuse to par- 
take of the old and rare wines he set before them ; but 
the doctor was able to give him a satisfactory expla- 
nation of their refusal, so that he did not feel hurt. 

When they were ready to depart, they found two of 
the sleds of the country ready at the door, in which 
they were to descend the long hill to the city. They 
took their seats ; and a man placed himself on each 
side of the sled, holding a rope from the forward end 
of the runner to guide and control the vehicle. They 
made the descent very rapidly ; and the students de- 
clared it was almost as good as coasting on the snow. 

The next day Don Roderigue, his wife and daughter, 
visited the vessels of the squadron, and were treated 
with the distinguished consideration to which their 
social standing entitled them. The Portuguese gentle- 
man was delighted with the order and the nautical 
evolutions of the young sailors. In return for the 
courtesy extended to him and his family, Don Roder- 
igue invited all hands to spend a day at the “ Quinta da 
Son Joao ; ” and he insisted that all should come. 
They all went ; and the officers and seamen had the 
gayest lark of the year. 

Quite a number of Portuguese, English, and French 
young ladies were also invited ; and the dancing in the 
great hall of the mansion was kept up till midnight. 


164 


ISLES OF THE SEA ; OR, 


Two days later the liberal host invited the party he had 
first met to visit the Curral , and ascend the Pico Ruivo. 
He provided horses, guides, and servants for the excur- 
sion, and entertained them royally till their return to 
the vessels. 

The Curral is the greatest natural curiosity in Ma- 
deira. It is a vast ravine, and may once have formed a 
deep lake. It is surrounded by lofty mountains, which 
add greatly to the grandeur of the scenery. It re- 
minded the students of the “ Dry Dock,” as they called 
it, in the Saxon Switzerland. 

The Curral is about thirteen hundred feet deep, and 
the greater portion of its sides are perpendicular rock. 
Every thing in the vicinity is very picturesque, and the 
students were delighted with the excursion. 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 


i6 5 


CHAPTER XII. 

% 

CONCERNING THE MISSING STEAMER. 

u r | "'HERE is a steamer coming into port ! ” shouted 
X one of the idlers in the foretop of the American 
Prince, one morning after the squadron had been a 
week at Funchal. 

A dozen glasses were brought to bear upon the 
approaching steamer, which was coming in from the 
north-east. She was not a large vessel, and was 
square-rigged forward, like the Ville d’Angers ; but it 
could not yet be determined whether she had two or 
three masts, as she was headed directly towards the 
Loo Rock. The picked-up steamer was barkentine 
rigged ; and, so far as could be judged at that distance, 
the new-comer was about her size. 

The American Prince had been out on a three-days’ 
cruise in search of the Ville d’Angers. She had spo- 
ken several vessels without obtaining any intelligence of 
the missing steamer. She had just returned to Fun- 
chal. Mr. Lowington was very much depressed at the 
ill success of the expedition ; but Mr. Fluxion insisted 
that the Ville d’Angers was all right. She had plenty 
of coal, plenty of provisions, and she was a good, 
strongly-built vessel : he had examined her in detail, 


i66 


ISLES OF THE SEA ; OR, 


and he did not believe that the students could have 
foundered her if they had tried to do so. The worst he 
could conceive that had happened to her was, that she 
had broken some of her machinery, and had drifted 
away to leeward before the south east winds which had 
been prevailing for a week. 

“ But you say her sails were in good order and con- 
dition,” replied the principal. “ I presume her com- 
mander knew enough to get sail upon her if her engine 
was disabled.” 

“ If he did, he has had a head-wind all the time, and 
will have to beat his vessel all the way. It is very 
likely the steamer is not in good sailing-trim, for such 
craft as she is don’t work well under sail alone,” con- 
tinued Mr. Fluxion. 

“ But that vessel coming into this port is using 
steam,” said Mr. Lowington, as he directed his glass 
towards her again. 

“ Of course I can’t tell what has happened to the 
Ville d’Angers, but I feel quite confident that she is all 
right. We have had no very bad weather since we 
parted company, and not a great deal of fog near the 
islands,” persisted Mr. Fluxion, who felt it “ in his 
bones ” that the steamer and her crew were safe, though 
he could give no good reason for his belief. 

£ ‘ I think that is not the steamer you have de- 
scribed,” said Mr. Lowington, in heavy tones ; for he 
was very sad at heart. 

“I don’t think it is, myself,” added the vice-principal. 
“ This one has only two masts, if I mistake not. She 
is a very fast sailer though.” 

For half an hour longer all hands watched the ap- 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 


167 


proaching steamer, which left a long line of dense 
black smoke for miles astern of her. It was settled 
that it was not the Ville d’ Angers, for she was rigged 
as a topsail schooner. She was a very j aunty-looking 
craft, with raking masts, and smoke-stack ; and she cut 
her way through the water like a fish, creating hardly 
any commotion in the waves around her. Outside she 
was painted a shining black, while inboard she was 
milk-white. Her rigging was hauled taut, and every 
thing about her was as neat and ship-shape as on board 
a man-of-war. 

“ That is not the Ville d’ Angers ; but, as she comes 
down from the north-east, she may have seen her,” said 
Mr. Lowington, putting away his glass, which was no 
longer needed to observe the approaching craft. 

“ She is so trim and taut, I think she must be a 
man-of-war,” added Mr. Fluxion. “ She looks like one 
of our smaller gunboats. I see she has the American 
flag at her peak.” 

“ She carries a private signal at her foremast head,” 
continued the principal, taking his glass from the 
brackets on the companion-way. “ Can you make it 
out, Mr. Fluxion ? ” 

“ It blows out straight from us, so that I cannot see 
the letters upon it.” 

“ Young gentlemen, can you make out the letters on 
the private signal of that steamer ? ” asked the princi- 
pal, turning to the students, who were as much inter- 
ested in the new-comer as the faculty were. 

“ I have it, sir,” replied one of the sharp-eyed stu- 
dents, who had been studying this signal for some time. 
“ It is an arrow, with the word ‘ Marian ’ above, and an 
‘ R ’ below it.” 


68 


ISLES OF THE SEA ; OR, 


“ Then it is not the Ville d’Angers, nor a man-of- 
war, ” said Mr. Lowington very sadly. “ I hoped it 
might be the latter, at least ; for she would have been 
more likely to be able to give us some information in 
regard to the missing vessel.” 

“ On board the Prince P” shouted Mr. Pelham from 
the deck of the Triton ia, which was moored next to the 
steamer. 

“On board of the Tritonia!” returned Carson, the 
first lieutenant of the ship. 

“That steamer is the Marian, Judge Rodwood’s 
yacht,” replied Mr. Pelham. 

Carson communicated this information to the princi- 
pal, for neither he nor Mr. Fluxion knew the name of 
the judge’s steam-yacht; or they did not recognize it 
if they had heard it mentioned. By this time the Mar- 
ian had stopped her screw off the Loo Rock ; and the 
government boat was pulling out to her. As she had 
a clean bill of health from her last port, she was sub- 
jected to no detention; and the government officers 
assigned her a place to moor near the Josephine. As 
she passed under the stern of the Prince, two 'gentle- 
men were s'een on her rail, who seemed to regard the 
Prince with great interest. One of them was a tall 
man, with a white beard and white hair ; he pointed to 
the name on the stern, and became quite excited. 

“ That must be Judge Rodwood,” said Mr. Fluxion. 
“ He has come to look for his runaway ward.” 

“ And I wish we had his runaway ward for him,” 
added the principal. “ However, I do not feel that 
any one is to blame for what has transpired.” 

“ Certainly not,” replied Mr. Fluxion. “ We could 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 


169 


not bring in the steamer without the young gentlemen ; 
and that was just the kind of experience they needed 
to fit them for the business of life.” 

“ I have sent the young men away in charge of one 
of the vessels of the squadron several times, and this 
is the first time any of them has failed to report where 
he was ordered,” continued the principal. “Wain- 
wright brought the Tritonia from the Baltic up the 
Mediterranean alone, when the vice-principal on board 
was worse than useless, and anchored her safely in the 
Golden Horn.” 

“Yes, sir; and you may depend upon it that O’Hara 
will do as well on the present occasion as Wainwright 
did,” replied the vice-principal cheerfully. 

“ I hope he will ; but I would give a thousand dollars 
at this moment to know that he and his shipmates are 
safe and well.” 

“ Possibly this steam-yacht will be able to afford us 
some information,” suggested Mr. Fluxion. 

“ There is a remote chance that she may have seen 
her. The judge telegraphed to his ward at Gibraltar 
from London : as he got no answer to his letter or 
despatch, possibly he went to Gibraltar on his way to 
Funchal. If O’Hara could not make his way against 
the head wind, after he broke his machinery, he may 
have headed his vessel for the nearest port, which is 
Lisbon or Cadiz. The Marian may have seen the 
Ville d’Angers,” reasoned Mr. Lowington. 

“ But that steamer has not had time to go to Gib- 
raltar, and then come down to Madeira, since we sailed 
from that port. I don’t believe she has been to Gib.” 

“ We shall soon know ; for here comes a boat from 


170 


ISLES OF THE SEA ; OR, 


the steam-yacht,” added Mr. Lowington, as a dashing 
barge, with crimson velvet cushions in her stern sheets, 
pulled up to the accommodation steps. 

The six seamen who were at the oars were dressed 
in uniform, and had the word “ Marian ” in gold letters 
on their hats. Every thing about the boat was very 
stylish, as it was about the yacnt itself. The tall 
gentleman with the white hair and beard, who wore 
the uniform of the New York Yacht Club, led the way 
up the stairs, and was the first to come upon the deck 
of the Prince. He was followed by the captain of the 
yacht and a gentleman in civilian’s dress. Mr. Low- 
ington was at the gangway to receive the visitors. The 
judge touched his cap, and so did the principal. 

“ Are you the captain of this steamer ? ” asked the 
judge. 

“ No, sir ; but I am principal of the academy squad- 
ron, of which this is the chief vessel ; and I am really, 
though not nominally, the commander of the ship,” 
replied Mr. Lowington, who usually allowed the captain 
to answer such questions, in order to give him the 
needed experience in all affairs relating to the vessel. 

“ Then you are the gentleman I wish to see,” con- 
tinued Judge Rodwood, introducing himself, and then 
presenting Capt. Goodwin, the commander of the 
Marian. 

“ Capt. Goodwin ! ” exclaimed the principal, as he 
glanced at the person named. “ I ought to know him, 
for he was formerly one of my pupils,” and he grasped 
the hand of the captain. 

“ I am very glad indeed to meet you again, Mr. 
Lowington,” replied Capt. Goodwin. “You see that 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 171 

I am making use of the practical knowledge I obtained 
in the Young America ; and I was very sorry to hear 
that the old ship had gone to the bottom.” 

“ Capt. Goodwin has told me all about your acade- 
my ; and he always speaks of you with the highest 
respect and regard,” interposed Judge Rod wood. 
“ But have you a young man among your students by 
the name of Thomas Speers ? ” 

“ We have such a name on our books ; but I regret 
to say that he is away just now, and we are not a little 
anxious about him and his companions,” answered 
Mr. Lowington very seriously. 

The principal then detailed all the circumstances 
connected with the absence of Tom Speers. Mr. Pel- 
ham was sent for ; and he was very glad to meet 
Goodwin, who had been a pupil with him when the 
Young America first crossed the Atlantic. He ex- 
plained more particularly why the despatch and the 
letter had not been opened sooner. 

“Then the young rascal has purposely kept away 
from me,” said Judge Rodwood. “ His uncle has left 
him three millions of dollars ; and he makes me chase 
him all over the world to put him in possession of his 
fortune. As Tom is nearly twenty-one, I thought I 
should be doing him a good turn if I took him out of 
school. The Marian really belonged to Tom’s uncle ; 
and, as the boy is fond of the sea, I thought I would 
give him the benefit of it. I used to keep the best 
state-room on board for Mr. Speers; and 1 still reserve 
it for his heir. ” 

“ I should have discharged the young man if I had 
received your letter in season to do so before we sailed 


172 


ISLES OF THE SEA ; OR, 


from Gibraltar, and sent him on to London,” added 
Mr. Lowington. 

“ But it seems that he does not wish to be sent off ; 
and in that case I am willing that he should remain in 
your academy,” observed Judge Rod wood. “If he 
had telegraphed to me that he did not wish to leave his 
vessel, I should have been perfectly satisfied, and per- 
mitted him to remain. In fact, I am not legally his 
guardian yet, for the young man has a voice in the 
business himself.” 

“Do you hail from Gibraltar now, sir ? ” asked the 
principal. 

“ No, sir : I have not been anywhere near Gibraltar. 
When I received no reply to my despatch or letter, I 
telegraphed to a correspondent of our banking-house, 
and learned that your squadron had sailed for Fun- 
chal, and that young Speers had undoubtedly gone 
in the vessel to which he belonged. I am off on a 
cruise ; and I was rather pleased with the idea of going 
to Madeira in search of my ward.” 

“ Then you are direct from England ? ” 

“I am : the Marian is six days from Southampton. 
As I was anxious to find young Speers before you left 
these islands, I required the captain to hurry her ; and 
I think we made fifteen knots an hour a good part of 
the voyage.” 

“ I am very anxious indeed about the safety of 
Speers and his shipmates,” continued Mr. Lowington ; 
“ and I hoped, when I saw your steamer, that you 
would be able to give us some information in regard to 
the steamer picked up by the Tritonia.” 

“ We haven’t seen her ; have we, Capt. Goodwin ? ’* 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 1 73 

asked the judge, turning to the commander of the 
Marian. 

“ Think not : indeed, we have seen but one steamer 
during the trip, at least after we got off into blue 
water,” replied Capt. Goodwin. 

“ We saw a steamer towing a dismasted vessel, you 
remember,” interposed Dr. Phelps, the other gentleman 
of the party from the Marian, who was making the 
voyage for his health with his friend the judge. 

“True : I did not think of her. The other was a P. 
and O. steamer, bound into Southampton,” added 
Goodwin. “What sort of a vessel was it the Tritonia 
picked up ? ” 

“ She is a screw steamer of about six hundred tons, 
three masts, square rigged forward,” replied Mr. Pel- 
ham. “ She is painted black ; and her cabin is under 
a poop-deck. She is long, and very narrow for her 
length. Her name is the Ville d’Angers, and she has 
a French register. She was abandoned by her ship’s 
company, for she had a hole stove in her starboard 
bow by a collision with another vessel ; but her dam- 
ages had been thoroughly repaired.” 

“ The steamer that was towing the dismasted vessel 
corresponds to the description you give of the Ville 
d’Angers,” said Capt. Goodwin. “ But I suppose half 
the steamers that ply between the ports of England 
and the Continent would fill the bill as well.” 

“ I was looking through the glass at that steamer for 
half an hour,” interposed Dr. Phelps. “I was sitting 
on deck with nothing else to do ; and I was trying to 
ascertain the condition of things on board of the dis- 
masted vessel.” 


174 


ISLES OF THE SEA; OR, 


“Did you notice any thing particular about her?” 
asked Capt. Goodwin. “ But we didn’t go within two 
miles of her ; though I noted in my log the fact that we 
passed a steamer towing a dismasted vessel.” 

“ The glass was a very powerful one ; and I tried to 
make out the people on board of the wreck and of the 
steamer, but I could not.” 

“ Did the steamer sit low in the water, or was she 
well up ? ” asked Mr. Pelham. 

“ I am not a nautical man, and I am not a competent 
judge ; but I should say she was more out of the water 
than the Marian,” replied the doctor. 

“ Could you tell what color she was painted ? ” 

“ Black, while the vessel she was towing was green ; 
and I noticed this fact particularly, for it was an odd 
color for a vessel, as I understood the matter. I was 
going to say, in regard to the steamer, that she was not 
black the whole length of her, on the side next to me.” 

“ On which hand did you leave the steamer and her 
tow, Goodwin ? ” asked Mr. Pelham, beginning to be a 
little excited over the matter. 

“This was off Ushant ; and we were on the shore 
hand of her.” 

“You left her on the starboard hand ; and the steam- 
er was headed which way ? ” 

“ She was going a little east of north ; and I con- 
cluded that she intended to make either Plymouth or 
Southampton. She may have gone more to the east- 
ward when she was well up with the cape,” added Capt. 
Goodwin. 

“ Then it was the starboard side of the steamer that 
was seen by Dr. Phelps ? ” 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 


X 75 


“ Certainly it was : she was on our starboard, headed 
to the northward,” replied Goodwin. 

“You said the steamer was not black the whole 
length of her, Dr. Phelps ? ” continued the vice-princi- 
pal of the Tritonia, warming up still more as the inves- 
tigation proceeded. 

“ I said so ; but, if you give me any nautical conun- 
drums, I can’t guess them,” answered the passenger, 
laughing. 

“ What color was the part of the steamer that was 
not black, if you please, Dr. Phelps ? ” asked Mr. Pel- 
ham. 

“ It was a kind of straw-color ; possibly yellow. It 
was a sort of an irregular patch at the forward part of 
the vessel. If it had been on the roof of an old barn 
in the country, I should say that it had a lot of new 
shingles laid among the old ones,” answered the doctor. 

“ Precisely so ! and that part of the steamer’s side 
near the forward part of her — and that was on her 
starboard bow — was the new planking of the Ville 
d’ Angers,” exclaimed Mr. Pelham excitedly. “ I would 
not give any one ten cents to insure my statement that 
the steamer towing the dismasted vessel was the Ville 
d’Angers ! ” 

“ It may be,” replied the principal, musing. 

“ I am confident I am right.” 

“ I think you are, Pelham,” added Mr. Fluxion, who 
was particularly pleased to have his hopeful theory 
substantiated. 

“ But the Ville d’Angers must have made good time, 
towing a wreck, to have been off Ushant when you saw 
her there,” suggested the principal. “ It is hardly pos- 
sible it was she.” 


176 


ISLES OF THE SEA ; OR, 


“ It took us three days to make Funchal after we lost 
sight of the Ville d’Angers,” said Mr. Fluxion, figuring 
with a pencil on the back of a letter. “ When did you 
see this steamer, Capt. Goodwin ? ” 

“ In the first part of our second day out,” replied the 
captain of the Marian. 

“ Then the Ville d’Angers had five days to make 
Ushant ; and she could easily do it in that time : she 
had the wind with her all the way.” 

“ And she had all her sails set ; and it was blowing 
fresh when we saw her. They had a jury-mast on the 
wreck, with some sail on it,” added Capt. Goodwin. 

“ It blew a gale in the Bay of Biscay the next day, 
and I have no doubt it extended up to the coast of 
England,” said Judge Rodwood. “ Do I understand 
you, Mr. Lowington, that you send these boys off on 
such expeditions as this one ? ” 

“ Some of these boys, as you call them, judge, are 
older than I was when I had the command of a full- 
rigged ship for a time. No, I do not send them off on 
such expeditions when I can avoid it. I have told you 
that our friend Mr. Frisbone was on board of the 
steamer ; and my young gentlemen had the alternative 
of leaving him and his ladies on board, or taking pos- 
session of her. I think they acted wisely, though I 
cannot explain the conduct of the present commander 
of the Ville d’Angers in towing this wreck to England.” 

“ In my judgment he had a good reason for doing 
so,” added Mr. Fluxion. “ O’Hara is twenty years 
old ; Gregory, his first officer, is nineteen ; Speers is 
the second officer, and he is nearly twenty-ane. The 
other two officers are about the same age. There isn’t 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 177 

a fellow among them that is not fit to take that steamer 
to any port in the world ; and no officers, even in the 
navy, have been so thoroughly trained in the discharge 
of their duties.” 

Mr. Fluxion got just a little excited in the defence of 
the policy of the principal. He had been an instructor 
in the institution since it was organized, and he knew 
the nature of the training the students had received ; 
and any one who was fit to be an officer had been 
obliged to work his way up to the position. 

“ You think the steamer was bound to Southampton, 
do you, Capt. Goodwin ? ” asked Mr. Pelham. 

“ I have not the least idea for what port she was 
bound ; but she was going east of north when I saw 
her last, so that she could not have been bound for 
Liverpool, or any port up the west coast,” replied Capt. 
Goodwin. “ I should judge that she would be most 
likely to go into Southampton ; for she would find the 
least difficulty in the navigation in making that her 
destination.” 

“ Then she probably got into Southampton^four days 
ago,” added Mr. Pelham. “Very likely she put about 
immediately, and sailed for Funchal. She may be here 
by to-morrow or next day.” 

“ Unless the agents or the owners happen to see 
her, and put in a claim upon her,” suggested Mr. 
Fluxion : “ her case has to be settled in the courts 
yet.” 

“ Southampton will be a good place for the business,” 
said the principal ; “ but that will leave her ship’s com- 
pany in England without a vessel.” 

'Leave that to O’Hara; and Tom Speers has money 


i 7 8 


ISLES OF THE SEA ; OR, 


enough to pay the passage of all his shipmates to Ma- 
deira in the next steamer,” said the judge, laughing. 
“ But Frisbone is with them ; and I am sure he will see 
them through all right. It is hardly worth while to 
worry about them. I desire to see young Speers very 
much indeed ; and, if he prefers to retain his place in 
the Tritonia as first master, I shall make no objection. 
If I thought I should find him at Southampton, I would 
return there at once. Can you advise me what to do, 
Mr. Lowington ? ” 

“ The chances are, as Mr. Pelham suggests, that the 
Ville d’Angers will return to Funchal at once ; and 
you had better remain here a few days at least. If the 
steamer does not appear in three days, I am inclined 
to think I shall run over to Lisbon, or some other port, 
where I shall be likely to obtain some intelligence of 
the missing vessel. If we could get at the ship-news 
for the last week, we should know whether this steamer 
had gone into Southampton or not.” 

“ Then I will remain here a short time,” said the 
judge. “The African mail-steamer is due here in a 
few days ; and she will bring the latest ship-news.” 

“ We have almost taken it for granted that the 
steamer towing the dismasted vessel was the Ville 
d’Angers ; but we may be mistaken, after all. Any 
other vessel may have had her side planked up ; and it 
is not a very unusual thing for a steamer to have her 
bow stove in,” added the principal. But he was hope- 
ful that the vessel described would prove to be the 
missing steamer ; and it removed in a measure a heavy 
load from his mind. 

After breakfast the principal and some of the young 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 


179 


officers visited the Marian by invitation. In the after- 
noon Scott and his.. party visited the quinta of Don 
Roderigue ; and the second lieutenant of the Tritonia 
felt sufficiently at home there to invite the judge and 
the doctor to accompany them, for he had been assured 
that any of his friends would be welcome there. 

Three days passed away in the enjoyment of the 
scenery and the hospitalities of Madeira ; but the 
Ville d’ Angers did not arrive. 


i8o 


ISLES OF THE SEA j CR, 


CHAPTER XIII. 

A MUTINY IN THE FIRE-ROOM. 

S no one could see the Ville D’Angers and the 



two schooners in the dense fog that settled 
down upon them after the crew of the steamer had 
been re-organized, it would be difficult to determine 
precisely in what manner they were separated. Capt. 
O’Hara did not start the screw of the steamer until he 
had stationed his ship’s company in accordance with 
his instructions given by the senior vice-principal. If 
there was any fault anywhere, it was in the instructions. 

Observations had been taken on board of all the 
vessels at noon, and the course for the Madeira Islands 
was ascertained to be south-west, half-west ; and the two 
schooners went off in this direction, with the wind from 
the southward, but veering to the west. O’Hara used 
up about two hours in stationing his crew, arranging 
the quarters of the officers and seamen, and in giving 
his instructions. ' By this time the Tritonia and the 
Josephine were a dozen miles on their way, and they 
looked like white specks on the ocean to the naked 
eye. The young captain believed that the Ville d’An- 
gers, from what she had done, would sail twelve knots 
an hour ; and at this rate he could overhaul the rest 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD EOUND. l8l 

of the fleet in a couple of hours. Bur the Ville d’An- 
gers was hardly under way before the fog settled down 
upon her, and shut out the schooners from view. 

The heavy whistle of the steamer could be heard for 
a long distance ; but the bell and fog-horn of the other 
vessels could not be distinguished by the lookout of 
the Ville d’Angers. Then the wind hauled to the 
westward, heading off the sailing-vessels. O’Hara was 
watching the weather and the vessels very closely all 
the time ; and, though the direction of the wind did not 
greatly affect the steamer, he saw that the Josephine 
and Tritonia could no longer lay their course. 

He continued the steamer on the course given out 
for two hours, without seeing or hearing any thing of 
his consorts. The captain began to be a little worried ; 
for he would as soon have thought of drowning him- 
self as of disobeying the orders of the senior vice-prin- 
cipal, and going off on an independent cruise. It was 
evident enough to him, that the schooners had tacked, 
or had been crowded off their course by the changing 
wind ; he could not tell whether they had gone to the 
westward or southward. He wished Mr. Fluxion had 
told him what he should do under such circumstance 
as the present, which might have been easily fore- 
seen. 

“ Upon my sowl, I am afraid we shall part company 
with the rest of the fleet,” said the captain to Tom 
Speers, who was on the deck. 

“ It seems to me we have done it already,” replied 
the second officer. 

“ That’s a fact ! Now the wind has changed, and it 
bothers me to know whether the schooners have tacked 


182 


ISLES OF THE SEA ; OR, 


and stood to the southward, or kept as close to the 
wind as they could, and gone off to the westward.” 

“ It isn’t possible to tell what they have done.” 

“ That’s true for you ! ” added the captain, musing. 
“ Now let us think it over seriously. We ought to have 
overhauled the Josephine and Tritonia just where we 
are at this moment,” and he glanced at the clock that 
hung in the pilot-house. “ But there is no sight nor 
sound of them here. — Blow the whistle, Mr. Raymond, 
if you please.” 

“ We have whistled every five minutes since the fog 
settled down upon us,” replied the fourth officer, as he 
sounded it again. 

It was time to heave the log, and the officer of the 
quarter-watch left the pilot-house to attend to this duty. 
In a few moments he reported the steamer as going 
only eight knots an hour. O’Hara was vexed at this 
low rate of speed ; for he was persuaded that the 
steamer was good for at least twelve knots. He went 
to the engine-room to inquire into the matter. Rich- 
ards was in charge of the engine ; and he was seated on 
his cushioned bench, reading a novel. 

“ What the blazes are you doing in here ? ” shouted 
the captain, abating no little of his natural politeness. 
“ Sure, the steamer is making only eight knots an hour 
by the last log ; and the schooners will bate us out at 
this rate.” 

“ We are making but thirty-eight revolutions a min- 
ute ; and eight miles is all that can be expected,” re- 
plied the assistant engineer. 

“ Well, what’s the matter with her ? ” demanded 
O’Hara, not a little excited. 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 1 83 

“ I can’t get steam enough to do any better,” replied 
Richards rather doggedly, for he did not like the man- 
ner in which the captain had spoken to him. 

“ Can’t you get all the steam you want ? ” asked 
O’Hara, in a more moderate tone ; for he began to see 
that his manner was a little too arbitrary. 

“ I have called down into the fire-room twenty times 
for more steam, and I have been down myself ; but I 
don’t seem to make myself understood,” replied Rich- 
ards in a more affable tone, corresponding to that of 
the captain. 

“ Those blackguards of firemen are not doing their 
duty ! ” exclaimed O’Hara, rushing down to the fire- 
room, believing the difficulty was altogether in the 
matter of language. 

He spoke to the Italian in his own language ; and 
the fellow shrugged his shoulders, and looked insolent, 
though he said nothing to which exception could be taken. 

“ Fill up your furnaces ! ” shouted the captain, re- 
peating the words in French for the benefit of the ones 
who did not understand Italian. “We are making but 
eight knots an hour ; and we shall lose the rest of the 
fleet at this rate ! ” 

The men heaved in a few shovels of coal ; and 
O’Hara, believing he had said and done all that was 
necessary, left the fire-room. He went upon the poop- 
deck, where he found Tom Speers ; and both of them 
gazed out into the dense fog, and listened for any 
sounds that might indicate the situation of the rest of 
the fleet. 

“ Do you make out any thing, Speers, darlint ? ” 
asked the captain. 


184 


ISLES OF THE SEA j OR, 


“Nothing at all,” replied Tom. “In my opinion we 
have seen the last we shall of the schooners till we get 
to Funchal.” 

“ Don’t say that, Tom : I would rather lose my 
command than part company with the rest of the 
fleet.” 

“ I don’t see why you need mourn about the matter. 
We know where we are bound, and we can get there 
without any help from the schooners,” added Tom. 

“ If we lose them they will say we did it on purpose.” 

“They can’t say that ; for our log will show just how 
it happened, after we compare it with those of the other 
vessels.” 

The young captain was very impatient ; and, after 
waiting half an hour, he ordered the officer of the 
watch to heave the log again. It was done, and the 
report was only seven knots. 

“ Faix, it seemed to me she was going at a snail’s 
pace,” said O’Hara, now thoroughly roused by the 
tardy movement of the vessel. 

“I don’t understand it,” added Tom. 

At this moment one of the crew who had been de- 
tailed to act as an oiler, because he had a taste for 
working on machinery, came upon the upper deck. 

“ Mr. Richards directs me to report to the captain 
that the engine is making but thirty revolutions a min- 
ute, and that the firemen won’t do any better,” said 
the oiler. 

“ That’s what the matter ! Bad luck to those same 
blackguards of firemen ! We should have done better 
with some of the fellows in the fire-room ! ” exclaimed 
O’Hara, as he hastened down to the main deck. 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 185 

He had hardly reached the foot of the ladder before 
Mr. Frisbone hailed him, coming out of the cabin. 

“What’s the trouble, Capt. O’Hara?” shouted the 
Prince, in his usual loud tone, though the captain was 
not six feet from him. “ I’ve been taking a nap ; and, 
when I waked up, I thought the steamer had stopped ; 
but I found she was moving a little. Is any thing out 
of kilter?” 

“ We are making but six knots an hour, sir ; and the 
rascals of firemen won’t work,” replied O’Hara. 

“Won’t work ? What’s got into them ? ” 

“ I don’t know, sir : I am going down into the fire- 
room to see what the trouble is.” 

“ All right : that’s the way to do business ; and I’ll 
go down with you,” added the Prince. 

They stopped in the engine-room to hear what the 
engineer had to say about it. Richards had been 
down, and had called in French a dozen times for 
more steam ; but the firemen would not do any better. 
He had found the furnace-doors open ; and he con- 
cluded that the Italians and Frenchmen had concluded 
to strike for higher wages, though they had received 
their own price for their services. 

“ We will soon see about that ! ” exclaimed O’Hara, 
as he began to descend the iron steps into the fire- 
room. 

“ I guess we can straighten them out,” added the 
Prince, as he followed the captain. 

They found the firemen — not only the watch on duty, 
but all of them — seated in the airiest part of the room, 
smoking their pipes and cigars as coolly as though 
every thing was going well on board. The doors of 


86 


ISLES OF THE SEA ; OR, 


the furnaces were fastened wide open, and the steam 
was rapidly diminishing in pressure. 

‘“What are you about?” demanded O’Hara, very 
indignant at the state of things he found in the fire 
room. 

Mr. Frisbone went to the furnaces at the same time . 
for it was of no avail for him to say any thing to thes«, 
men who did not understand his language. He closed 
the doors of the furnaces, which were tolerably well 
supplied with coal, and opened the draughts. As he did 
so, one of the Frenchmen came up to him, followed by 
two more. 

“ Non ! Non ! ” shouted one of them, as he closed 
the draught, and threw open the doors again. 

He proceeded to make a rather violent speech in his 
own language, which was not understood by the Prince. 
But the latter could understand the man’s actions if 
not his words; and they meant rebellion as plainly as 
though it had been formally declared in the English 
tongue. He was not a man to be set aside by any- 
body ; and he pushed the Frenchman away, and opened 
the doors and draughts again. He had scarcely com- 
pleted the task before one of the men struck him a vio- 
lent blow on the head, which felled him to the floor. 
But he was not badly hurt, and leaped to his feet on 
the instant. In the twinkling of an eye he had 
knocked over two of his assailants ; and the third was 
on the point of hitting him on the back of the head 
with an iron bar, when O’Hara, seeing his danger, 
rushed upon the Frenchman, and, seizing the man by 
the neck, jammed his knees into the small of his back 
so as to throw him over backwards. 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 1 87 

Richards stood in the engine-room at the head of 
the steps, watching the progress of events. When the 
Frenchman knocked the Prince over, the engineer 
called Shakings and Rimmer, both of whom tumbled 
down the steps in season to defend the captain from a 
violent assault on the part of the Italians, who were 
disposed to make common cause with their fellow- 
laborers. Raymond, hearing the noise in the fire- 
room, hastened below, followed by Tom Speers. 
These ample re-enforcements caused the firemen to 
fall back, and place themselves on the defensive. 

“ I am ready to fight if need be, though I am a man 
of peace,” said the Prince, puffing with his exertions. 
“ But I should like to know what I am fighting for. 
What’s the matter ? What has caused this row ? ” 

“ The men won’t work,” replied O’Hara. 

“ What’s the reason they won’t work ? ” demanded 
Mr. Frisbone, who was sufficiently familiar with labor 
difficulties to be competent to meet any emergency of 
this kind. “Aren’t they satisfied with their wages?” 

“ They want a portion of wine served out to each 
man while they are at work,” replied O’Hara, to whom 
Alfonzo had explained the desire of the men, and the 
reason why they had stopped work. 

“ Wine ! ” exclaimed the Prince, in utter disgust. 

Mr. Frisbone, as shown in a preceding volume of 
this series, was a very fierce temperance man, and did 
not believe that intoxicating drinks of any kind, not 
even wine and beer of the mildest type, were proper 
for use under any circumstances. He did not tolerate 
the drinking customs of any nation he visited. He 
never tasted the cup in any form himself, never gave 


ISLES OF THE SEA ; OR, 


1 88 

it to his neighbor, or permitted it to be given to him 
if he had the power to prevent it. 

“ Alfonzo says they asked for wine on board of the 
Josephine, and were told there was none on board. 
He did not believe a statement so absurd as this one 
seemed to him ; and he and his associates considered 
the reply as a refusal to grant their reasonable request. 
He thought it was no use to ask for wine again ; and 
they have struck for it as the only way they are likely 
to get it,” explained the captain. 

“ Struck for wine, have they ? ” demanded the Prince, 
gazing with contempt at the firemen. “ But, while we 
are settling this question, the fires are going out ; and 
soon we shall have no steam at all.” 

The Prince closed one of the furnace-doors, and 
Shakings another. All the draughts were adjusted so 
that the fires began to roar. 

Alfonzo spoke a few sharp words to his companions ; 
and they began to arm themselves with such weapons 
as were at hand, — pokers, shovels, hammers, iron bars. 
Shakings wanted the party to “ clean them out ” with- 
out any delay. While things were in this attitude, the 
cook and one of the stewards came down into the fire- 
room, and intimated that they were ready to do duty as 
the occasion might require. 

“No clubs,” added Shakings, when he saw the stew- 
ard pick up a coal-breaker. “We don’t want any 
weapons. We can bring them to their senses quicker 
without breaking any of their bones ; and we want to 
use them, not kill them.” 

The Prince liked this argument, and warmly seconded 
it. The boatswain of the Josephine was the self-con- 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 189 

stituted leader of the party, possibly because there was 
more fight in him than in any other. He made a 
spring at Alfonzo, who was armed with a hammer used 
in breaking coal. He clinched with the fellow, to 
whom the weapon in his hand was rather an incum- 
brance than otherwise. As he raised it to strike his 
assailant, Shakings seized him by the arm. A sharp 
struggle ensued ; but the stalwart tar was too much for 
his opponent, and in a moment he had thrown him to 
the floor, and put his foot upon him. 

The Prince pitched into the Frenchman who had 
struck him before. He wrenched a shovel out of his 
hands, and then threw him down. Observing how the 
boatswain handled his man, he followed his example, 
holding the rascal down with his foot, while he men- 
aced him with the shovel if he attempted to use his 
hands. Rimmer was slower and clumsier than the 
boatswain, but he succeeded in taking down one of the 
smallest of the Italians. Raymond did not scruple to 
tackle another ; and so quick were his movements, that 
his man was down almost as soon as the leader of the 
firemen. All the others went for the remaining two of 
the foreigners ; and they were soon hors de combat. 
The prestige seemed to be with the Americans from 
the beginning. 

It was a very striking spectacle, even after all the 
hitting had been done, to see six men held down on the 
floor. Tom Speers had fought like a tigerwith a French- 
man he had tackled alorre in the beginningof the affray ; 
and, though O’Hara came to his aid, it was not till he 
had nearly overcome his foe. 

“What shall we do with them ? ” asked the Prince, as 
soon as he could obtain breath enough to speak. 


190 


ISLES OF THE SEA ; OR, 


“Who hasn’t his hands full?” demanded the boat- 
swain. 

“ I haven’t,” replied the captain. 

“Then have rope enough sent down to tie these 
fellows hand and foot, if you please, captain,” added 
Shakings. 

But all the watch except the quartermaster and the 
seaman at the wheel had heard the noise of the con- 
flict, and had secured positions where they could see 
what was going on in the hold. As soon as they heard 
the call of Shakings, they gathered up all the spare line 
they could find about the deck and in the lockers, and 
threw it down into the fire-room. O’Hara passed them 
to the victors in the conflict, and each secured his own 
man. The battle was ended, and the victory won. 

“ Do you want wine now, you villains ? ” said the 
Prince when the conquest was completed. 

“ But we are pretty much out of firemen,” added the 
captain, as he looked at the mutineers, made fast to 
the stanchions and other parts of the vessel. 

“ I am willing to take my turn at the shovels,” re- 
plied the Prince. 

By this time the fires in the furnaces were burning in 
the most satisfactory manner ; and the Prince declared 
that the steamer was increasing her speed. The cap- 
tain directed that several of the students who had done 
duty in the fire-room before the foreigners came on 
board should be detailed to serve again. Four of them 
appeared in answer to the summons ; and, as the nov- 
elty of the occupation had not worn off, they were glad 
to be employed in this capacity again. All hands 
except the firemen, the boatswain, and the carpenter, 
left the fire-room. 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 


191 


The Italians and Frenchmen were fully convinced 
that they had made a mistake in refusing to work : 
they began to talk among themselves ; and some of the 
amateurs understood enough of what was said by the 
actual firemen, to comprehend that they were ready to 
resume their work. But the students said nothing 
about what they had heard. In the course of an hour 
the foreigners were tired of their confined position, and 
begged to be released from durance, promising to do 
their duty faithfully. 

When the captain came down to see them a little 
later, they plead with him ; and he consulted with Mr. 
Frisbone and the boatswain. 

“ Let ’em loose, and set ’em to work ; but don’t give 
’em any wine, or liquor of any sort,” said the Prince. 

“ I don’t know whether there is any wine on board,” 
replied O’Hara. “ If there were I wouldn’t give it to 
those fellows after they have behaved so badly. But I 
don’t think they will give us any more trouble after the 
pounding they have had.” 

Shakings was directed to release the firemen ; and, 
when he did so, he blustered and handled them so 
roughly, that they seemed to be inspired with a whole- 
some terror of his fists. He cuffed and kicked them 
more liberally than Capt. O’Hara thought was neces- 
sary; and the latter suggested the propriety of treating 
a fallen and submissive foe with a little more magna- 
nimity. 

“ Bless your heart, captain, it isn’t of any use to treat 
such fellows gently. They aren’t used to it. If you 
treat them well they will turn upon you, and bite,” re- 
plied Shakings, as he released the last man ; but, in 


192 


ISLES OF THE SEA j OR, 


deference to the captain, he failed to kick him as he 
had the rest of them. 

The three who were on watch sprang to the shovels, 
and were disposed to waste the coal in their zeal to do 
their duty. The Italians, who were off duty, went to 
their quarters under the forecastle. O’Hara did not 
like the way they behaved, and he directed Shakings 
to keep a close watch over them. 

“ Have you heard any thing of the rest of the fleet, 
Speers ? ” asked the captain, as he joined the second 
officer on the poop-deck. 

“ I have not ; and the fog is thicker than ever,” re- 
plied Speers. “ Have you looked at the barometer 
lately? It feels like bad weather to me. The sea 
seems to have an ugly look, what we can see of it.” 

“ I looked at it just as I came up ; and it indicates 
a little more wind than we have been having the last 
twelve hours ; but I don’t think it is any thing very 
bad that’s coming.” 

“What was that? ” said Tom Speers, suddenly look- 
ing to the northward. 

“ Well, what was it ? I didn’t hear any thing,” re- 
plied O’Hara, gazing in the direction indicated. 

“ I don’t know what it was ; but it sounded like a 
gun, or the stroke of a bell,” added Speers. 

“ Gun on the starboard quarter, the lookout forward 
reports,” said Raymond, hailing the captain from the 
main deck. 

“ All right : we heard it here,” replied O’Hara. “ Is 
it a gun, or a bell ? Report if you hear it again, Mr. 
Raymond.” 

“ If it was a bell, it may be the other vessels of the 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 


: 93 


fleet. If it was a gun, it was not fired by the Josephine 
or the Tritonia, for the reason that neither of them has 
a gun to fire.” 

“ I hear it again ; and I am sure it is a bell,” ex- 
claimed Tom Speers. 

“Whisht! Wait till you hear another; for the two 
schooners are together, and when one rings the other 
will, you may be sure,” added the captain, not a little 
excited. 

But no other stroke of a bell was heard for a little 
time. 

“ I know the sound of the Tritonia’s bell ; and it 
isn’t she,” said O’Hara. “ It is a much heavier bell 
we hear.” 

All hands listened again. 


ISLES OF THE SEA; OR, 


IQ\ 


CHAPTER XIV. 

THE WRECK OF THE CASTLE WILLIAM. 

T HE sound of the bell was heard again in a few 
minutes. It had a heavy and dull tone, unlike 
that of the bells of the schooners. All hands on the 
Ville d’Angers listened attentively to the sound. 

“ I think it must be the bell of one of the consorts,” 
said Capt. O’Hara, when he had heard the bell at least 
a dozen times. 

“ It don’t sound like the bell of the Tritonia,” replied 
Tom Speers, after he had heard it once more. “ And 
all the sounds are from the same bell. If the two 
schooners were off in that direction, we should hear the 
bells of both of them.” 

“ I’ll tell you what it is : the fog makes the differ- 
ence in the sound from what we are accustomed to 
hear. We never heard the bell except when we were 
on the deck where it was rung. It stands to reason 
that it would be another thing when heard at a dis- 
tance, and in a thick fog,” continued the captain, who 
wished the sound might come from the consorts, and 
was influenced by his desire. 

The sound seemed to be a long way off ; and the 
captain said it bothered him to know how they hap 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 1 95 

pened to hear it when it was so far off. He called Mr. 
Shakings and Capt. Fairfield, and asked them to give 
their opinion in regard to the tones of the bell. They 
did not think it was the bell of the Josephine, to which 
they were more accustomed to listen on board ; but it 
might be, for bells sounded different under varying 
circumstances. At last O’Hara decided to run for the 
sound of the bell, and directed the officer of the deck 
to change the course to north, for this was the direction 
from which the sound came. 

Capt. O’Hara could not reconcile himself to the 
sound of the bell ; but he thought, as had been sug- 
gested, that the condition of the atmosphere might alter 
the tone of the Tritonia’s bell. He concluded that the 
schooners had fallen off their course as the wind veered, 
and the Ville d’Angers had run ahead of them. This 
was the only explanation he could give ; and, in the ab- 
sence of a better one, it satisfied him for the time. The 
firemen did their duty now, though Shakings showed 
himself to them once in a while so that they need not 
forget him. 

Every thing seemed to be going well on board, and a 
sharp lookout was kept for the rest of the fleet ahead. 
The bell to the northward sounded more and more 
distinctly as the steamer advanced ; and the nearer she 
came to it, the louder it sounded. 

“That can't be the bell of the Tritonia,” said Tom 
Speers, as he met the captain on the poop-deck. 

k< Begorra, I don’t believe it is ! ” exclaimed O’Hara, 
in whose mind the question had been raised anew. 
“ Upon my sowl, it is big enough for a church-bell; and 
we have come nearer to it than we were when we first 
heard it.” 


196 ISLES OF THE SEA; OR, 

“ It must be some other vessel,” added Speers. “ It 
isn’t a steamer, or she would whistle in such a fog as 
this.” 

“ No : sure it’s not a steamer ; and what the blazes is 
it ? ” queried the captain, very much puzzled. “ I hope 
we shall not miss the rest of the fleet.” 

“ I hope not ; but, if the schooners stood down to the 
southward, wr have very little chance of seeing them 
Again, unless this fog lifts soon,” replied Speers. 

“ Have you seen Gregory and Clinch since the ship’s 
company was stationed ? ” asked O’Hara, suddenly 
changing the topic of the conversation, though he did 
not cease to peer into the dense fog ahead. 

“ Neither of them has been on deck since the second 
part of the starboard watch took the deck,” answered 
Speers. 

“ Where are they ? ” 

“ I don’t know. They went into the cabin, and I 
suppose they are there now. They have a state-room 
together.” 

“ I don’t quite like the conduct of Gregory, who is 
the first officer,” added O’Hara, in a low tone. “ He 
took the trouble to tell me he did not approve the 
arrangement of the watches as I had made it.” 

“ I dare say he will assent to it,” added Tom. “ I 
don’t know him at all, and never served in the same 
vessel with him.” 

“ He used to be a mighty hard boy at the time he 
was in the steerage of the Young America ; but when 
he got into the Josephine, he reformed ; and Mr. Flux- 
ion believes he has made a man of him. Perhaps he 
has : I don’t know. If he has, there has been a big 
change in him.” 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 


x 97 


“ Let us hope he will be a good officer while he is on 
board of the steamer.” 

“ Certainly we will hope so ; but it was a bad begin- 
ning for him to object to the arrangement of the 
watches before he had been on board two- hours.” 

“ What does he object to ? ” asked Tom Speers ; and 
he was willing to believe there might be something 
wrong about the arrangement, for it would not be at 
all strange if a mistake had been made. 

Tom thought it might be possible that his friend the 
captain had been just a little “ airy ” in his dealings 
with the two officers from the Josephine, though he had 
never noticed any thing of the kind in O’Hara while 
they had been together in the steamer. Such an 
exhibition would not be very remarkable in a young 
man, placed in command of a steamer with the arbi- 
trary control of thirty of his companions. He was 
determined to caution his friend in regard to the mani- 
festation of any thing that could be construed into an 
overbearing or domineering spirit. He knew very well 
from experience, that such an appearance would excite 
opposition, if there was none in the beginning. 

“ What does he object to ? ” repeated O’Hara. “ He 
says he objects to the arrangement of the watches.” 

“ What did you say to him ? ” asked Tom curiously, 
if not anxiously. 

“ I only told him I was sorry he didn’t like it,” replied 
the captain, smiling, as though he thought he had 
answered the complaint very properly. 

“ Did he say any thing more ? ” 

“ Yes, he did : he added that he didn’t think there 
was any need of quarter-watches,” chuckled O’Hara; 


198 


ISLES OF THE SEA ; OR, 


“ and Clinch took the trouble to say he didn’t think so 
either : as if he considered it important that I should 
know the first and third officer were of the same mind 
on the subject.” 

O’Hara talked and chuckled and laughed like one 
who felt that he occupied a strong position. He was 
quite happy over it ; for, if there was to be any trouble 
on board, he was altogether in the right, and the other 
party all in the wrong. 

“ What did you say then ? ” inquired Tom Speers, 
desiring to know whether or not there was any founda- 
tion for his fears and suspicion. 

“ I told them that showed we differed in opinion a 
little taste ; and I smiled as swately as though I was 
spaking to Miss Louise in the cabin below. And that 
reminds me to say I think the girl is a little swate on 
you, Tom, my boy, since you pulled her out of the say,” 
said the captain, getting excited as he proceeded, and 
relapsing into his Irish brogue. 

“Never mind the girl,” added Tom impatiently, 
though he blushed a little as he turned away to wipe 
off the dampness that had gathered on his face from 
the fog. “I am not one of your romantic pups who 
think a girl ought to be his wife because he has 
rendered her some little service.” 

“ Faix, it was no little service you rendered her ; for 
she was sure to be drowned if you hadn’t got to her 
with the life-buoy as soon as you did.” 

“ Never mind that now, Capt. O’Hara,” interposed 
the young hero. 

“ Oh ! you are not on duty now ; and you needn’t 
measure off your words into lengths with me just now,” 
said O’Hara, with a laugh. 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 


199 


“ Do you think Gregory is discontented ? ” asked 
Tom. 

“ If his words come from his heart, he is ; but that 
is his fault,” replied the captain very lightly. “ If he 
don’t like the arrangement of the watches, he can’t help 
himself ; for I am the commander of this ship.” 

“ Excuse me, O’Hara, as I am not on duty just now, 
if I speak to you as a friend.” 

“ Certainly, my boy : blaze away ! I won’t put you in 
irons for any thing you may say now,” added O’Hara 
curiously ; for he had not the least idea that he had 
done any thing wrong, or even out of taste. 

“ Don’t you think it would have been better if you 
had answered Gregory and Clinch in a little different 
way ? ” 

“What do you mane? Wasn’t I civil to them? 
Didn’t I smile as sweetly upon them as though they 
hadn’t raised a ghost of an objection to the watches ? ” 

“Of course you are the captain, and you were not 
obliged to make any explanations ; but don’t you think 
it would have been better if you had been a little more 
conciliatory toward Gregory and Clinch, even if they 
were a little wrong? ” asked Tom. 

“ Faix, I don’t know : I didn’t think of that,” repeat- 
ed O’Hara thoughtfully. “They supposed it was my 
arrangement they were objecting to all the time, when 
it was the orders of the senior vice-principal himself.” 

“ So much the worse, if they thought the plan was 
your own,” added Tom. 

“ Well, now, I thought it was so much the better ! ” 
exclaimed the captain. 

“ So much the better for you, but so much the worse 


200 


ISLES OF THE SEA; OR, 


for Gregory and Clinch,” continued Tom. “ Possibly 
the first officer thought you ought to have consulted 
with him about the arrangement of the watches. All 
I mean to say is, that it would have been more magnan- 
imous to have told Gregory, when he objected, that you 
were only carrying out the orders of the vice-principal.” 

“ Perhaps you are right, Tom, my darling,” added 
O’Hara, musing. 

“It was not in the midst of an emergency, O’Hara ; 
and he did not refuse to obey orders. If he had, and 
you had knocked him down, it would have been all 
right. It is only fair to let the first and third officers 
know, if they object to any thing, that they are kicking 
against the senior vice-principal, and not against you,” 
continued Tom, as sagely as though he was a fit judge 
to settle a case between his captain and an officer 
above himself. 

“ That’s all very well ; and I think you are right this 
time, Tom, if you never were before,” answered O’Hara. 
“ But am I to make a distinction between the en- 
forcement of my own orders and those of the powers 
above me? If I tell the officer of the deck, and it 
happens to be Gregory or Clinch, to stop the engine, 
am I to explain that this is the order of the senior vice- 
principal, and not my own ? or, if it should be my own, 
to argue that it is all right ?"” 

“ Certainly not ; nothing of the kind ! I said in the 
beginning that this was a matter of magnanimity, and 
not of right. Your orders are to be obeyed without 
a question on the part of any one on board ; not even 
Capt. Fairfield or Mr. Shakings having the right to 
object.” 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 


201 


“ I see : I understand you perfectly, Tom, my dar- 
lint ; and I am much obliged to you for the trouble you 
have taken to say all this. Give me your flipper ! I 
like you betther than ever, if you are a million naire ; for 
it’s a good friend that will point out another’s 
faults.” 

“ I don’t point out your faults, O’Hara. I am afraid, 
if I were the commander of this steamer, I should be a 
little ‘airy;’ and I was dreading lest you might be, 
though, upon my honor, I haven’t seen any thing of the 
kind in you.” 

“ It’s moighty aisy y’are on me, Tom ; and I believe 
I have been airy ; but, upon my sowl, I’ll never do it 
again ! I like you better than if you had given me the 
half of your three millions ; and I wish you were the 
captain of the steamer, instead of myself.” 

“ Nonsense, captain ! You are ten times as fit to 
command her as I am ; and I am glad it is as it is.” 

“ Whisht ! ” 

“Vessel dead ahead!” shouted the lookout, on the 
jib-boom of the steamer, where the officer of the deck 
had sent him when the bell began to be heard very 
distinctly on the forecastle of the steamer. 

The officer of the deck hastily repeated the cry, and 
ordered the quartermaster to put the helm hard down, 
^.t the same time he rushed into the pilot-house, and 
rang the speed-bell for the engine to “ slow down.” 

“ Can you make her out ? ” said the captain, gazing 
into the dense fog ahead. 

“ I don’t see any thing ; but we are more than a hun- 
dred feet farther from the vessel than the man on the 
forecastle.” 


202 


ISLES OF THE SEA; OR, 


“ I will go forward, then,” added O’Hara, suiting the 
action to the words. 

Tom Speers saw Gregory and Clinch come out of 
the cabin, and follow the captain forward, and he con- 
cluded to remain where he was ; for he was off duty, 
and he did not care to have the other officers of the 
steamer regard him as the adviser of the captain, if the 
commander asked him any questions. 

The Ville d’Angers slowed down in obedience to 
the will of the assistant engineer in charge. If the 
lookout had been less vigilant, the steamer would have 
struck the vessel ahead square on the broadside, and 
that would have been the end of her. But Raymond, 
as the officer of the deck, was always exceedingly care- 
ful ; and he had spent most of his time at the heel of 
the bowsprit since the position of the craft was clearly 
indicated by the sound of the bell. The whistle had 
been sounded on the steamer at short intervals ; and, as 
it came nearer, the bell was rung more vigorously, so 
that each vessel had a clear idea of the position of the 
other. 

Gregory and Clinch went forward behind the captain, 
and they could not help being considerably excited over 
the prospect of some sort of an adventure. But they 
said nothing to O’Hara ; and it was evident from their 
actions that they were a little “ disgruntled;” 

“ I believe O’Hara has lost his wits,” said Gregory, 
in a prudently low tone. “ It beats me to know what 
he is chasing this vessel for, running some miles off the 
course.” 

“ I suppose he thought that bell belonged to one of 
the schooners,” added Clinch. 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 


203 


“ It sounds more like one of the bells of the churches 
of Paris than it does like the Josephine’s; and he might 
have known that it did not belong to one of the 
schooners,” growled the first officer. 

The captain had certainly allowed the Ville d’Angers 
to continue on her course to the northward after he 
and Tom Speers were reasonably confident that the 
bell did not indicate the presence of the other vessels 
of the fleet. Possibly O’Hara’s curiosity had been 
excited, and he wished to see the vessel that rang the 
heavy bell ; but it is more likely, that, in the conver- 
sation which ensued, he had forgotten for the moment 
that the vessel ahead could not be either of those for 
which he was in search. He desired to satisfy himself, 
after he had gone so far to the north, — only a few 
miles, however, — that the bell was not on either of the 
vessels, and that they had not run off in this direction. 
By sweeping off a little to the westward, on his return, 
he might fall into hearing distance of their bells or 
horns. 

“Do you make her out, Mr. Raymond?” asked 
O’Hara, as he ascended to the top-gallant forecastle. 

“ Distinctly, sir,” replied the officer of the deck. 

“What is she?” 

“It seems to be a wreck, with a number of persons 
on board of her. All her masts have been carried 
away ; she has a square sail rigged on a jury-mast, and 
is running before the wind,” added Raymond, as he 
made out the details he mentioned. 

“ I see her now,” continued O’Hara, as he traced 
the outline of the vessel through the dense mass of fog 
which covered the sea. 


204 


ISLES OF THE SEA ; OR, 


“ We are running by her, sir,” said Raymond. “ Shall 
I stop her ? ” 

“ Stop and back her,” replied the captain. 

“ Ring one bell ! ” shouted the officer of the deck. 

“ One bell ! ” responded the quartermaster in the 
pilot-house ; and he rang it. 

“ Ring two bells ! ” added Raymond. 

“ Two bells ! ” repeated the man in charge of the 
wheel ; and, when he rang them, the screw began to 
turn backwards. 

“Stop her! ” said O’Hara, when he judged that her - 
headway was overcome. 

“ Ring one bell ! ” added Raymond. 

“ One bell, sir ! ” echoed the quartermaster ; and the 
engine stopped. 

While this was done on board of the steamer, the 
hands on the wreck let go the halyard of the square 
sail, and it came down on the deck. The hulk was 
moving so slowly that it forged only a little ahead of 
the Ville d’Angers, leaving her on the weather quarter 
of the deck. From the top-gallant forecastle of the 
steamer, the officers had a tolerably clear view of the 
dismasted vessel, which might have been a ship or a 
barque, for the stumps of her three masts could be 
distinctly seen. She was painted green, and looked 
like a very old vessel, for her bow was as stunt-built as 
the craft of a hundred years ago. 

“ Hail her, Mr. Raymond, and let us ascertain what 
we can of her,” said Capt. O’Hara. 

“ Ship ahoy ! ” shouted the officer of the deck, 
through the speaking-trumpet which had been supplied 
by Mr. Fluxion ; for this instrument meant twice as 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 


205 

much to him as to any other officer in the squad 
ron. 

“ On board the steamer ! ” replied a man on the 
deck of the hulk. 

“ What vessel is that ? ” 

“ The ship Castle William, from Calcutta to Ports- 
mouth, with invalid troops ! ” yelled the man on the 
deck of the wreck; and (here seemed to be not more 
than three men on duty there. 

“ Tell him we will send a boat on board,’’ said the 
captain ; and Raymond repeated the words. 

“Don’t do it!” shouted the man earnestly. “We 
have small-pox and typhoid-fever on board.” 

“ Phew ! here’s a nice kettle of fish ! ” exclaimed 
O’Hara. 

“ Keep to windward, and come a little nearer ! ” 
called the spokesman of the wreck. 

The captain gave the necessary orders to back the 
Ville d’Angers, and run up a little nearer to the wreck. 
Taking the suggestion of the man on the hulk, he 
thought there would not be any danger in going to 
windward of her. 

“ Do you hear that, Clinch ? ” said Gregory, with no 
little excitement in his manner. “ There is small-pox 
and typhoid-fever on board of that wreck ; and O’Hara 
is going to get nearer to her.” 

“ I don’t like the idea,” added Clinch. 

“ Capt. O’Hara, I protest against going any nearer 
to that vessel ! ” said Gregory, walking up to the cap, 
tain, and touching his cap as he spoke. “ She has 
contagious diseases on board of her ; and we shall all 
take them.” 


206 


ISLES OF THE SEA ; OR, 


“ There is no danger, I think, while we keep well to 
windward of her. The breeze is pretty fresh, and I 
don’t believe the disease can travel up against it,” 
replied O’Hara, mindful of what had passed between 
Tom Speers and himself, though he was at first inclined 
to make no reply to the protest. 

“ I don’t think it is safe : I protest, and insist that 
the steamer be put on her course to the Madeiras ! ” 
added Gregory, in a very offensive manner. 

“ Shall we abandon this wreck, without even ascer- 
taining whether or not she needs any assistance ? ’ > 
demanded O’Hara, with some indignation in his tones. 

“You need not go any nearer to her, at any rate,’' 
replied Gregory, somewhat shaken by this argument ; 
for all the students had been thoroughly schooled in 
the lesson of humanity, that every sailor was bound to 
assist every other sailor in distress. 

The captain made no further reply to the first officer. 
Possibly he did not run the steamer as near to the 
wreck, for he directed the course, as he might have 
done if Gregory had said nothing. 

The Ville d’Angers was stopped on the quarter of 
the wreck, and at about half a cable’s length from it. 

“ How many have you on board ? ” asked O’Hara, 
taking the trumpet from the officer of the deck. 

‘ Thirty-two, ” replied the spokesman of the wreck. 

“ Are you the captain ? ” 

“No ; he is down with fever: I am the mate.” 

“ How many sick have you ? ” 

“All but three men, — myself and two seamen. Five 
of the crew have died, and eight are sick.” 

It appeared from the answers of the mate, that the 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 


207 


Castle William had left Calcutta with a crew of sixteen, 
including the officers. She had in her steerage twenty- 
one disabled soldiers, among whom the typhoid-fever 
had broken Out after she left St. Helena, where she 
had put in for supplies. At this place she had received 
a sailor to work his passage ; and, when the ship had 
been out a week, he was taken down with the small- 
pox. They had made a place for him in the head ; but 
five of the crew had already died with this disease and 
the fever. Six more were sick with the fever, and two 
with the small-pox. 

Certainly it was a terrible state of things on board 
of the wreck, which had been short-handed, and was 
thrown on her beam-ends in the recent gale, or hurri- 
cane the mate called it. The three men had cut away 
the masts, and this had righted her. 


CHAPTER XV. 


A CHANGE OF DESTINATION. 

M R. FRISBONE had gone down into the fire-room 
as soon as the order was given to slow down, in 
order to see that the firemen did not do any mischief 
to the boilers or engine by too much firing while the 
steam was not used. But the men seemed to be very 
well disposed, and had opened the furnace-doors when 
the engineer on duty gave the order. The spare steam 
was blowing off at the same time. As the Prince was 
thus engaged in preventing a catastrophe in the engine 
or fire room, he did not learn the condition of things 
on board of the Castle William till the captain sent for 
him and for all the adult officers on board of the Ville 
d’ Angers. It was a desperate case which the young 
officers were called' upon to settle ; and O’Hara was 
disposed to take the advice of all that were older and 
wiser than himself. 

“ Do you need assistance ? ” asked O’Hara, after he 
had sent for the adult portion of the ship’s company. 
But it seemed like a foolish question to ask ; for here 
was a dismasted hulk, on board of which were thirty- 
two human beings, all but three of whom were dis- 
abled. There were not well ones enough to take care 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 


209 


of the sick, to say nothing of handling the vessel. If 
left to themselves, they must all miserably perish in a 
few days, for the storms of the Bay of Biscay would 
soon make an end of the unmanageable hulk. Of 
course she needed assistance ; and it would be in- 
human in the last degree to refuse it. 

“ We need assistance very badly,” replied the mate 
of the Castle William. “ We must all die of disease or 
go to the bottom, without it.” 

“ Do you need provisions and stores ? ” inquired 
O’Hara. 

“We have provisions enough, but we want fresh 
vegetables and stores for the sick.” 

“ We will send you what we have,” replied the young 
captain. “ What else do you want ? ” 

“ We can never get into port on this wreck. She has 
a very valuable cargo in the hold.” 

“ Do you wish for more seamen ? ” 

“ If we had a hundred men, they could hardly save 
the ship if it came on heavy weather. Will you tow 
the wreck into port ? ” asked the mate ; and this last 
request was evidently what he had desired to reach from 
the beginning. 

“We will consider it,” replied Capt. O’Hara, not a 
little startled at the request. 

“ Our sick people are well provided for ; and this is 
the best thing you can do for us. You will make a 
good thing by it.” 

By this time the Prince, Capt. Fairfield, and the adult 
forward officers, had gathered in the pilot-house for 
consultation. O’Hara stated the situation of the wreck 
and the people on board of it. He laid before the 


210 


ISLES OF THE SEA ; OR, 


council all the information he had obtained from the 
mate of the Castle William ; but he expressed no opin- 
ion or desire on his own part He wished to hear the 
opinion of his elders before he gave his own. 

Mr. Frisbone listened very attentively to the state- 
ment of the captain • and he did not speak a word till 
O’Hara had said all he had to say. 

“ I want your advice,” continued the captain. “ Of 
course it was not supposed, when I was placed in 
command of the Ville d’Angers, that I should be called 
upon to settle such big questions as this one.” 

“ But I have faith to believe that you would settle it 
right,” added the Prince. “ There is only one thing to 
be done in a case like this ; and all the lawyers and 
doctors of divinity in the world couldn’t make our 
duty any plainer to us ; and that is, to relieve the dis- 
tressed, and at any cost of labor and trouble.” 

“ That’s the talk ! ” shouted the impulsive and warm- 
hearted Shakings, bringing his fist down upon the wheel 
with force enough to break his bones or split the wood. 
“Your honor is a sailor at heart, if you never did come 
in at the hawse-hole, and feel your way to the quarter- 
deck ! ” 

So said Rimmer in his slower and more heavy tones. 

“ But there will be great risk in exposing the young 
gentlemen to small-pox and ship-fever,” suggested 
Capt. Fairfield : not that he intended to object to the 
performance of a humane duty, but because he desired 
to have both sides of the question considered ; and 
there were thirty-one young lives to be cared for, as 
well as thirty-two older ones. 

“ I think we ought to save a fellow-creetur from 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 


211 


death when the risk of losing our own lives is no 
greater than the chance of saving them that’s in dam 
ger,” replied the Prince emphatically. “That’s my 
doctrine ! ” 

“ Your honor was cut out for a sailor ; and you 
missed your calling, that you are not now in command 
of the finest ship afloat ! ” exclaimed Shakings, with 
enthusiasm. 

“ That’s all gammon, Mr. What’s-your-name,” said 
the Prince. 

“ My name is Shakings.” 

“ I should think it might be ; but do you suppose 
all the good feeling and humanity in the world belong 
to sailors ? ” demanded the Prince. “ That’s only the 
shakings of a bad logic.” 

“Your honor proves that the sailors haven’t all the 
good feeling in the world.” 

“ If you are an American citizen, don’t call any man 
‘ your honor,’ unless it is the judge on the bench. You 
are getting things mixed up with them lords and dooks 
on this side of the ocean,” continued the Prince re- 
proachfully. “ I call myself an American Prince ; and 
I don’t eat dirt before any man, and I don’t like to 
see other princes do it.” 

“ It is the first duty of tin American sailor to be re- 
spectful to his betters ; and I use the lingo I learned, 
because I am in the habit of doing so when I see a 
man do a handsome thing, as your honor always does,” 
said Shakings with a laugh. 

“ This is neither here nor there ; only I don’t like 
to see any flunkying at any time. We are called upon to 
give some advice to the captain ; though, in my opinion, 
he don’t need any.” 


2 12 


ISLES OF THE SEA j OR, 


“ I believe we are giving it ; and I suppose he under- 
stands what we all think about it by this time,” contin- 
ued Shakings. 

“If I comprehend the views of Capt. Fairfield, he 
objects to rendering assistance in the present instance, 
as it would expose our ship’s company to these conta- 
gious diseases,” added the captain, turning to the in- 
structor of the Ville d’Angers. 

“ By no means ! ” protested Capt. Fairfield warmly. 
“ I should feel guilty to the end of my life if we should 
leave these poor people to perish without giving them 
all the aid in our power.” 

Shakings thought the instructor had spoken like a 
“ sodger ” before ; and his present speech was more 
like that of a sailor. 

“ Then there appears to be no disagreement among 
you, gentlemen,” added Capt. O’Hara. “ I agree with 
you that the people on the wreck ought to be relieved.” 

“ Spoken like a true sailor ! ” ejaculated Shakings. 

“Or like a true soldier ! ” exclaimed the Prince. 

“ Thank you, Mr. Frisbone ; and I won’t stop to tell 
you what soldiers have done a thousand times for those 
in distress,” added Capt. Fairfield. 

“ We are to assist the people on the wreck,” inter- 
posed the captain. “ How, and to what extent, is the 
next question. — Mr. Raymond, keep the whistle going 
every five minutes.” 

“ We are doing so, sir,” replied the officer of the 
deck, who was planking the forecastle. 

O’Hara stated that the sufferers on the wreck 
needed no provisions, only fresh vegetables and com- 
forts for the sick. As the steamer was abundantly pro- 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 


213 


vided with the former, it was promptly decided to send 
all that could be spared of them. As to comforts for 
the sick, which they understood to include medicines, 
the Prince declared that he would consult his wife, who 
was one of the best nurses in the world, and had saved 
his life when the doctors gave him up, by her intelligent 
care. The benevolent gentleman was on the point of 
starting for the cabin, when the captain interposed. 

“ We have not settled the worst and hardest question 
of the whole, Mr. Frisbone,” said O’Hara. “ I have an 
opinion on the subject; but I wish for your advice.” 

“ What on airth comes now ? ” demanded the Prince, 
closing the door he had opened. 

Since his wife had become Mrs. Frisbone, and they 
had crossed the ocean, she had been doing her best to 
improve the grammar and pronunciation of the Prince ; 
and she had succeeded wonderfully well, considering 
the hard subject she had to deal with. He talked toler- 
ably well under ordinary circumstances ; but when he 
was dealing with a great question, or became very much 
excited, it was observable that he relapsed into nearly 
all his old barbarisms of speech. 

“ The mate of the Castle William wishes the steamer 
to tow the wreck into port,” added O’Hara. 

“ Into port ! ” exclaimed the Prince. 

“ He does not say what port ; but the ship was 
bound to Portsmouth, England.” 

“ Where is that ? ” asked the Prince, whose geography 
was sometimes at fault. 

“ It is close by Southampton.” 

“ That’s not the nearest port ? ” 

“ By no means. We are not more than three hun- 


2 14 


ISLES OF THE SEA ; OR, 


dred nautical miles from Lisbon ; and about the same 
from Cadiz.” 

“ I expect, with those diseases on board, that the 
Spaniards, the Portuguese, or even the English at Gib- 
raltar, would keep the people on the wreck in quaran- 
tine for about forty days ; and the chances are that 
most of them would never see England again,” said 
Mr. Rimmer. 

“ How far is it to Southampton ? ” asked the Prince. 

O’Hara went to the chart-room, measured off the dis- 
tance, and returned to the pilot-house. 

“ I make it about twelve hundred miles,” he said, as 
he joined the circle. 

“ I don’t believe in taking this steamer into a French 
or Spanish port,” added the Prince. “ I think that 
as much as one-half of her belongs to the academy 
squadron, as salvage ; and a port in England is the 
best place to have the business properly fixed up.” 

“ The mate of the Castle William says she has a 
valuable cargo in her hold ; and I suppose we shall be 
entitled to salvage in her,” suggested the captain. 

“ Of course you will ; and I don’t think Mr. Lowing- 
ton will lose any thing if we should take the wreck to 
— that place you mentioned.” 

“ Portsmouth.” 

No one objected to this business view of the situa- 
tion ; and it was in council agreed, that it would be 
expedient to tow the wreck to Portsmouth in preference 
to any port on the Spanish peninsula. 

“ I am confident that if Mr. Lowington or Mr. 
Fluxion were here, he would send the steamer to Eng- 
land with the wreck,” said Mr. Shakings. 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 215 

“But I desire to do all I can to find the consorts 
before we do any thing,” interposed O’Hara. “ When 
that is done, I am willing to act on my own responsi- 
bility, with your advice.” 

“ There is no let-up in the fog,” added Mr. Rimmer, 
as he took a long look on all sides of the steamer. 

It was decided to wait till it could be ascertained 
whether or not the Josephine and the Tritonia were 
anywhere in the vicinity. The boatswain and the car- 
penter were instructed to fire the gun, which the Prince 
had used so effectually on the night of the collision, 
every thirty minutes during the rest of the day, or until 
the fog cleared off. The first gun was discharged 
immediately. At the moment of the report, the quar- 
termaster struck eight bells in the pilot-house ; and it 
was repeated on the great bell forward. 

“ All the port watch on deck ! ” shouted the acting 
boatswain’s mate, as he piped the call through the ship. 

It was the first dog-watch ; and the first part of the 
port-watch had the deck for one hour. It was in 
charge of Gregory ; and Raymond gave him the orders 
he had received, and handed him the trumpet as the 
indication of his authority. But there was nothing 
to do on board, except to keep a sharp lookout, and to 
give the fog-signals. 

The stewards had been directed to get out the vege- 
tables to be sent to the wreck ; and they were attend- 
ing to this duty. About a dozen boxes of onions, 
turnips, and potatoes, and a smaller variety of other 
vegetables, were now in readiness at the gangway to be 
conveyed to the Castle William. In the mean time 
the American Prince had gone into the cabin to con* 


2l6 


ISLES OF THE SEA j OR, 


suit his wife in regard to the needs of the sick on board 
of the vessel. 

Mrs. Frisbone had been seasick for several days ,• 
but she had now completely recovered. The motion of 
the steamer, even while she was hove to, was quite 
easy ; and the lady was sitting at the table in the after- 
cabin, as the part in the stern which was separated 
from the rest by the curtain was called. Miss Rod- 
wood was at her side ; and both of them listened with 
the deepest interest to the story of the Prince. 

“I want you to see about getting together some 
things to send to these poor people,” said the Prince, 
when he had finished his narrative. “ Perhaps you 
can tell what medicines they need, and get them out of 
the chist.” 

“ I will get them out of the chest ” — 

“ Out of the chest, and not out of the chist,” added 
Mr. Frisbone, with a laugh. “ I suppose we ought to 
let 'em all die while we make the chist into a chest.” 

“ Not so bad as that ; but chist is particularly bad 
pronunciation. I cannot tell what the sick sailors and 
soldiers need in the way of medicines without seeing 
them,” protested the lady. 

“ But they are all sick with contagious diseases ! ” 
exclaimed the Prince. 

“ I have had the small-pox, and I am not afraid of 
that. I have taken care of many people who were 
sick with the typhoidTever, of which ship-fever is only 
another form. I will go on board of the ship, and do 
all I can for the poor creatures,” replied Mrs. Frisbone 
earnestly. 

“ You, my dear ? ” 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. <217 

“ I never yet shrunk from doing my duty , and 1 
shall not now,” added the lady. 

“ I will go with you, sister ! ” exclaimed Miss Rod- 
wood. 

“You will not expose her to these diseases?” de- 
manded Mr. Frisbone, not a little alarmed at the propo- 
sition. 

“ I cannot prevent her from doing a duty which is as 
binding upon her as it is upon me,” replied Mrs. Fris- 
bone, with a sort of solemnity that greatly impressed 
her husband. 

“Very well ; and I shall go with you,” continued the 
benevolent American noble. “ If it is your duty, — 
and I don’t dispute that it is, — it is as much mine, and 
I shall share it with you. But we must not expose any 
of these boys to the contagion. I wouldn’t have one 
of them catch the small-pox or the ship-fever for a 
million dollars. I haven’t any thing in particular to do 
on board of this vessel ; and I can just as well be on 
board of the other, doing what I can to make the sick 
comfortable.” 

The adults and the officers were astonished when 
the decision of the Frisbone party was announced. 
Capt. Fairfield and O’Hara did their best to reason 
them out of the purpose ; but that was useless. Mrs. 
Frisbone declared that God had given her this duty to 
perform, and she should be recreant to her trust if she 
failed to do it. This was her opportunity to do the 
will of Heaven ; and she could no more neglect it than 
she could refuse her daily bread. 

“ If I take any disease, and die, I shall die at the 
post of duty ; and I should be afraid to die anywhere 


218 isles of the sea; or, 

else,” said the heroic woman ; “ and I shall not have 
lived in vain. Louise can do as she pleases. I do not 
ask her or my husband to go with me.” 

“But Miss Rodwood has been an invalid, and it will 
be a pretty severe experience for her to act as a nurse 
on board of a mere hulk, taking care of soldiers and 
sailors,” said Capt. Fairfield. 

“ Perhaps it is just the experience my sister needs ; 
and it may prove to be a blessing to her,” replied Mrs. 
Frisbone. “ If she can put her whole mind to this 
humane task, I am sure it will be a benefit to her.” 

The lady evidently had views of her own on this 
subject ; and, as it appeared that her sister’s mind was 
somewhat affected, it was possible that she understood 
the case better than any other person. 

The next thing was to get the devoted party on 
board of the wreck without exposing any of the stu- 
dents to the danger of infection. O’Hara studied the 
case, and talked it over with the carpenter and boat- 
swain. It was not prudent to board the Castle William 
on the weather side, for the sea would be likely to 
stave the boat against her sides. If it went to leeward, 
the crew of the boat would be exposed to the peril of 
the pestilential air from the ship. At last it was de- 
cided that none of the students should go in the boat 
that conveyed the passengers and stores. The Prince, 
the adult forward officers, and one of the stewards, 
were to act as oarsmen. The stores were sent first; and 
they were hoisted by the three well men on board of 
the ship. The ladies who had been so unwilling to be 
lowered in a boat when the object was to save their 
own lives were let down into the cutter in a sling ; and 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 


219 


they were safely hoisted on board of the Castle Wil- 
liam. The boat returned with all its crew except the 
Prince. 

The Ville d’ Angers then ran off a considerable dis- 
tance from the wreck, as far as she could and not lose 
sight of it. It was very quiet on deck and in the cabin. 
The vessel was rolling in the sea, and there was noth- 
ing to be done but to wait for the fog to lift. Gregory, 
the officer of the deck, was like a monarch without a 
kingdom ; and when Clinch came in his way, he in- 
sisted that it was dull music. 

The steamer had been turned head to the sea, and 
the screw was revolved just enough to keep the vessel 
from drifting upon the Castle William. When she was 
in danger of losing sight of the wreck, the engine was 
stopped for a time. But the quartermaster attended to 
all this business, and to the sounding of the whistle. 

“I wish I was back in the Josephine again,” said 
Gregory when he met Clinch. 

“Why so? This isn’t a bad craft to be on board 
of,” replied the third officer. 

“ This steamer is officered by about all the Tritonia’s 
fellows,” growled Gregory. “ Those that came from 
the Josephine are mere ciphers. O’Hara hasn’t spo- 
ken a word to me since we made out that wreck ; and 
I am the first officer of the steamer.” 

Clinch did not say any thing ; but he thought the 
captain had not much encouragement to consult his 
first officer, who had done nothing but object and pro- 
test when he did any thing. 

“ I suppose he had made up his plan ; but he hasn’t 
said any thing to me about it,” continued Gregory. 


220 


ISLES OF THE SEA ; OR, 


“ He has put the Frisbones on board of the wreck, and 
sent off all the vegetables we had on board. We may 
get the , scurvy for the want of them. Now we are as 
fast here as though we were aground.” 

“ What are we waiting for ? ” asked Clinch. 

“I don’t know. Don’t I keep saying the captain 
don’t tell me what is going on ? ” snarled Gregory, as 
though he were anxious to find a sufficient cause for 
getting up a mutiny. 

And so the day wore away. In the evening the fog 
lifted ; but nothing could be seen of the two schooners, 
for they were far on their way to Madeira. But O’Hara 
was not quite satisfied to undertake such an enterprise 
as had been agreed upon, until it was no longer possi- 
ble to confer with the vice-principals of the squadron. 
As the night was clear, he decided to run for three 
hours to the south-west, and return if he found nothing 
of the rest of the fleet. At midnight, when the steamer 
was over forty miles from the Castle William, nothing 
could be seen of the lights of the Josephine and Trito- 
nia ; and, very unwillingly, he ordered the Ville d’An- 
gers to be headed to the north-east. After a run of 
less than three hours, the wreck was readily found, for 
lights were exhibited on board as before she lost her 
masts. Raymond, who was in charge of the deck of 
the Ville d’Angers, hailed the wreck, and was answered 
by Mr. Frisbone. The wind was freshening, but the 
sea was tolerably smooth. 

O’Hara was still up, though he had taken a little 
nap, and directed the steamer to be run as close as 
possible to the hulk ; and a small line was heaved to 
her deck by Shakings. With this the heavy hawser of 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 


221 


the ship was drawn over the stern of the steamer, where 
it was made fast. While the boatswain was attending 
to the securing of the hawser, O’Hara and the Prince 
had some talk about the condition of the jsick. They 
were all comfortable ; and Mrs. Frisbone had worked 
out a revolution in the state of things between decks. 
The captain laughed when the Prince said he had been 
at work whitewashing since he came on board. 

When the hawser was ready, O’Hara gave the order 
to go ahead ; and the steamer started on her voyage to 
England. 


222 


ISLES OF THE SEA ; OR, 


CHAPTER XVI. 

THE WINE-ROOM OF THE VILLE DANGERS. 

T HE VILLE D’ANGERS had been under way 
hardly an hour when the quartermaster in the 
piloi-house struck eight bells ; and the first part of 
the port-watch was called to relieve the second part 
of the starboard. Gregory was the officer of this divis- 
ion, as Raymond had been of the last. 

“ North, half east,” said Raymond, giving the course 
to his successor in charge of the vessel. 

“ North, half east ! ” exclaimed Gregory ; and though 
it was his duty to repeat the course as it was given to 
him, in order to prevent any mistake, it was not neces- 
sary for him to say it with such a tone of disgust. 

“ That’s the course we have been running for the last 
hour,” replied Raymond quietly. “ The officer of the 
deck will keep a sharp lookout for the tow.” 

“ For the tow ? ” queried Gregory, as the fourth offi- 
cer repeated the orders which were required to be 
given to his successor in charge of the deck. “ What 
do you mean by the tow ? ” 

Of course you are aware that the steamer is towing 
the hulk of the Castle William ? ” 

“ I was not aware of it,” answered Gregory. “ When 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 


223 


I turned in at four bells last night, the steamer was 
headed to the southward and westward.” 

“ We returned to the wreck before three, after an 
unsuccessful search for the rest of the* fleet. We took 
the Castle William in tow; and now we are bound for 
Portsmouth, England. If you were not informed in 
regard to the movements of the steamer, I think you 
were the only officer on board who was in the dark.” 

Gregory and Clinch were jealous of the officers of 
the Tritonia. They had begun to object in the first of 
the cruise, and even before the steamer was under way. 
They had kept out of sight of the other officers, and 
had avoided the captain as far as they could. Gregory 
had been in charge when the steamer started for the 
south, after the fog lifted. O’Hara had tried to talk 
with him ; but he was so stiff and distant that the cap- 
tain gave it up, and allowed him to live within his own 
shell. He had been relieved by Clinch at ten in the 
evening ; and the third officer was no more inclined to 
be sociable than the first. 

At midnight Speers had been called ; and, as soon 
as he took the trumpet, the course of the steamer had 
been changed to the northward again. In the last half 
of this watch, when Raymond had the deck, the wreck 
had been taken in tow. The captain remained on deck 
long enough to ascertain that the Ville d’Angers was 
making ten knots an hour, with the ship in tow ; and 
he hoped in the morning to do even better than this. 
Thus it turned out that Gregory and Clinch knew noth- 
ing of the destination of the steamer. 

Possibly Gregory was as much astonished as he pre- 
tended to be, when Raymond told him the vessel was 


224 


ISLES OF THE SEA j OR, 


bound to England. He had certainly been ugly ever 
since he came on board. It seemed to him in the be- 
ginning, that O r Hara ignored him in re-organizing the 
watches, and especially in not speaking to him about the 
quarter-watches. But then, he was looking for a cause 
of offence : and those who look for it are sure to find 
it. 

“ Though I am the first officer of the steamer, I have 
not been consulted about any thing,” replied Gregory, 
in answer to Raymond’s remark. 

“ I do not know that any of the officers have been 
consulted,” added Raymond, who did not like the atti- 
tude of Gregory. 

“ I suppose I was ignored because I came from the 
Josephine. The Tritonia’s officers seem to be in the 
ascendant on board of this vessel,” continued Gregory, 
in the most forbidding of tones. 

. “ I don’t think it can make any difference what ves- 
sel the officers came from.” 

“ Tell that to the marines ! isn’t the captain hand 
and glove with Speers, the second officer ? Are they 
not together all the time they can be ? ” demanded the 
irate watch officer. 

“ I think Speers has been consulted no more than 
you or I have,” replied Raymond, moving away from 
the pilot-house ; for he saw that it was of no use to 
argue the point with one so- unreasonable as Gregory 
showed himself to be. 

“ Hold on a minute, Mr. Raymond,” interposed the 
discontented officer. “ Do you think, it is right for the 
captain to disregard his orders, and take the steamer 
to England ? ” 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 


225 


“ The captain can answer that question for himself, 
and I cannot answer it for him, ,, replied Raymond. 
“ All I have to do is to obey my orders.” 

“ Suppose he should take it into his head to run for 
the South Sea Islands on a pleasure-excursion : should 
you feel it to be your duty to obey orders without a 
protest, and go with him ? ” demanded Gregory. 

“ The captain is not doing any thing of that sort, 
and there is no need of answering conundrums,” re- 
plied Raymond warmly. “ This is a case of life and 
death with thirty-two people on board of the wreck; 
and it has been decided by the captain, after consulta- 
tion with all the adults on board, to tow the hulk to 
Portsmouth.” 

" But it is a thousand miles to England.” 

“ It is more than that ; but, if it were three thousand, 
I should obey orders all the same.” 

“I don’t think we are justified in obeying orders 
under such circumstances,” continued Gregory. “ I 
think Mr. Fluxion will blame you and me if we assist 
in sailing the steamer off on this long voyage, when the 
orders were to take the vessel to the Madeiras.” 

“ Of course you have a right to your own opinion, 
Mr. Gregory,” added Raymond coldly. “ Good-morn- 
ing.” 

The fourth officer left the pilot-house, where the con- 
versation had been carried on in the presence of the 
quartermaster and the seaman who were steering the 
steamer. He was sorry he had listened so long to 
the malecontent ; and, as he walked aft, he debated with 
himself whether or not he ought to wake the captain, 
gnd inform him of the mutinous sentiments uttered by 


226 


ISLES OF THE SEA ; OR, 


the first officer. But Gregory had taken the trumpet, 
and had not yet declined to obey the orders of the 
captain as transmitted to him by his predecessor in 
charge ; and he concluded to say nothing that might 
place him in the position of a tale-bearer. He turned 
in ; but, as he had had his full six hours of sleep, he 
lay awake thinking of what Gregory had said to 
him. 

Gregory wanted to do something ; and, by diligent 
thinking, he had fully persuaded himself that the course 
taken by Capt. O’Hara was all wrong. In the. first 
place, he was exposing the ship’s company to the perils 
of contagion ; and, in the second, he was disregarding 
his orders to take the steamer to Madeira in the event 
that she should part company with the schooners. He 
concluded that these were the orders, though he had 
not heard the senior vice-principal give the instructions 
to the commander of the steamer. 

“ I think you are quite right, Mr. Gregory,” said the 
quartermaster at the wheel, after Raymond had gone. 
“ If the truth were known, Capt. Fairfield is of the same 
mind. I know the fellows from the Josephine don’t 
like the idea of breathing the air from that floating 
hospital for the next week or ten days ; nor of going 
off on a cruise two or three weeks, wherever Mr. 
O’Hara or the Tritonia chooses to take them.” 

Gregory listened to this long speech without saying a 
word. The sentiments were his own ; but they were 
mutinous in their nature, and he ought to have re- 
proved the quartermaster for speaking to his superior 
officer in such terms of the captain. 

“ How were we going when the log was heaved 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 


227 


last ? ” asked the first officer, taking no notice of the 
speech of the man at the wheel. 

“ 'Fen and a half, sir,” replied Stokes. 

Gregory went aft, calling for the watch on the fore- 
castle to follow him, and heaved the log. To his as- 
tonishment, the Ville d’Angers was making eleven 
knots. The firemen were evidently doing their best. 
He had heard Mr. Frisbone say that the steamer would 
make fifteen knots under favorable circumstances, and 
that she had done it most of the time before the collis- 
ion. At this rate she would be - in Portsmouth in five 
days. He looked at the hulk astern, and saw that she 
carried the square sail she had rigged on the jury-mast, 
and the wind was fresh enough to help her along a 
knot or two an hour. 

Gregory examined the tow-line, as he had been in- 
structed to do, and found it all right so far as he was 
able to judge. When he had complied so far with the 
routine of the vessel and with his orders, he went for- 
ward to the engine-room. Alexander was on duty 
there ; and he was the only one of the Tritonia’s ship’s 
company on the watch in charge of the steamer. Mr. 
Fluxion and Mr. Pelham had agreed that officers and 
seamen from each vessel should be in the same watch, 
so far as it was practicable ; and this arrangement 
would remove any possible danger of quarrelling and 
disagreement among the students from the different 
craft. This had been done ; but the rule could not be 
applied to the engineers, for both of them belonged to 
the Tritonia. But the “ greasers,” one from each quar- 
ter, belonged to the regular watch. 

“ Good-morning, Mr. Gregory,” said the chief engi- 


228 


ISLES OF THE SEA ; OR, 


neer, with a yawn, as the first officer stepped into the 
engine-room. 

“ Good-morning, Mr. Alexander,” replied Gregory 
coldly, as he invariably spoke to all the officers of the 
Tritonia. “ You have on a big head of steam.” 

“ The firemen have done very well since I came on 
watch,” answered the engineer, with another yawn. 

He had not been careful to improve all his opportu- 
nities for sleep, as a sailor should, and as the students 
had learned to do when on regular duty, and had not 
turned in till after ten o’clock in the evening ; and he 
had been called at twelve. In the force of engineers 
the steamer was short-handed ; and the watch was 
changed at six and twelve, night and day; and this 
bill had been adopted at the request of the engineers 
themselves, so that they could find no fault with it. 

“ We are making eleven knots ; and that’s high 
speed for a steamer towing a six-hundred-ton ship,” 
added Gregory, who was really sorry to find the engine 
doing so well. 

“ So much the sooner this voyage will be over,” an- 
swered Alexander ; and then he yawned again, for he 
had not slept more than those two hours out of the last 
twenty-four. 

“ Why, don’t you like it ? ” asked Gregory, not a lit- 
tle astonished to hear a Tritonian express even a hint 
of being dissatisfied. 

“ I can’t say I do,” replied Alexander, with a heavy 
gape ; “ at least, I have had about enough of it, as the 
thing is going mow. A fellow can’t stand it without 
his sleep. I have to . keep my eye on that gauge all the 
time ; and it is with the utmost difficulty that I can 
keep my peepers open.” 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 


229 

Alexander gaped again, and Gregory seated himself 
by his side. 

“ It is rather rough on you to serve these six-houi 
watches,” added the first officer. 

“ I shouldn’t have minded it for a short cruise ; but 
I didn’t ship as an engineer for a trip to England and 
back.” 

“ I suppose Richards likes it, don’t he ? ” Gregory 
proceeded, anxious to obtain more information in re- 
gard to the sentiments of the engineers. 

“ He is more discontented than I am. He is growl- 
ing all the time ; and he was downright mad when he 
learned that the recitations were to be carried on to- 
morrow, just as they are in all the vessels of the squad- 
ron. I shall be in a pretty condition to study my les- 
sons, after this watch is finished. I shall turn in as 
soon as I get my breakfast, and sleep till noon, when I 
have to take my place in the engine-room again. How 
am I to keep up with the class, and run this machine 
twelve hours a day ? ” 

“ You can’t do it, of course. ” 

“ No more can Richards. He came within one of 
slipping out of the cabin on the first of the month, when 
Speers came in from the steerage ; and he wants to 
make his election sure next time.” 

“ It is a hard case for both of you. But I suppose 
you volunteered for this duty ? ” 

“ Richards and I were the only fellows who knew 
any thing about an engine, and we were really forced to 
volunteer,” yawned Alexander. “ I wish we were on 
our way to Madeira, instead of on a trip to England.” 

“ What is the matter with these fellows down in the 


230 


ISLES OF THE SEA ; OR, 


fire-room ? ” asked Gregory, whose attention had been 
attracted several times during the conversation, by the 
singing and laughing of the men at the fires. 

“ They seem to be very jolly to-night for some rea- 
son or other,” replied the engineer, gaping fearfully 
as his drowsiness gained upon him. 

The first officer wondered why the men were so jolly 
at that early hour in the morning ; and to satisfy him- 
Self he went down into the fire-room. After he had 
taken a few steps upon the iron stairs, he saw one of 
the Frenchmen strike off the neck of a bottle with a 
bar of iron. He poured the contents of the bottle into 
several tin cups, and passed them to his companions, 
retaining one for himself. The liquid was very red ; and 
the officer had no doubt it was claret wine, such as is 
usually furnished to the passengers on board of French 
steamers. 

The men drank off the contents of the tin cups, and 
then began to sing with renewed energy. It was the 
quantity of wine they had drank, which made the men 
so jolly. He was confident that it had not been fur- 
nished by the officers or the stewards ; and it was plain 
enough that the foreigners had found it in the hold of 
the vessel. 

Gregory spoke French well enough to do his part in 
carrying on an ordinary conversation in that language ; 
and, descending into the fire-room, he asked the French- 
men where they had obtained the wine. The men had 
drank too much to be disturbed by any common event ; 
and they all laughed heartily at the question. The 
three Frenchmen were on duty, and Pierre spoke for 
them. 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND 


231 


“ You are not the captain ?” said he, looking the first 
officer over from head to foot. 

“ No : I am the officer of the deck,” replied 
Gregory. 

“Plenty of wine in this vessel,” said Pierre, laugh- 
ing again as though he was the happiest mortal in 
existence. 

The other two men threw open the furnace-doors, 
and began to shovel in the coal at a furious rate. But 
the officer observed that they kept an eye on the draughts, 
and used all the precautions against fire or injury to the 
boilers, doubtless doing so from the sheer force of 
habit. 

“ Where did you get the wine ? ” repeated Gregory, 
as the fellow did not answer him. 

“ Very good wine ! ” exclaimed Pierre, taking another 
bottle from one of the coal-bunkers, and breaking off 
the neck as he ha^ done before. “ Try some of it ; ” 
and he handed the bottle to the officer. 

The first officer of the Ville d’ Angers, though he had 
been a good seaman and a good scholar for a consider- 
able time, was not one of the “chaplain’s lambs,” as 
the good boys were called by the bad ones. He had 
no conscientious or other scruples against drinking a 
glass of wine, or even a bottle, as he had done when 
the eyes of the professors were not upon him. 

Gregory took the bottle ; but he was not inclined to 
drink out of the dirty tin cup of the firemen, or to cut 
his lips with the glass of the broken bottle. The fire- 
man saw his difficulty, and then disappeared for a mo- 
ment, returning with a clean tumbler, which he had 
evidently taken from the mess-room forward of the 


232 ISLES OF THE SEA ; OR, 

engine on deck. He handed it to the officer with the 
greatest show of deference and politeness. Gregory 
filled the glass, and drank it off, though it was a heavy 
dram for a young man of his years. 

“ Where did you get it ? ” asked the officer. 

Instead of answering the question, Pierre took a lan- 
tern which hung at the entrance of the port bunker, and 
led the way along the machinery of the engine to a 
small door which opened into the after-hold. On each 
side of the engine was a store-room ; and Pierre took 
a key from his pocket, and opened one of them. Greg- 
ory saw that it was the wine-room of the steamer. 
Upon skids on the floor were several casks ; and above 
them were bins filled with bottles containing “ vin 
ordinaire,” or common claret. On the other side were 
more bins, filled with other kinds of wine. 

“ Plenty of wine,” said Pierre, as he pointed with 
entire satisfaction to the display of # bottles. “This is 
the best ; ” and he took one from the bin he pointed at. 

Gregory read the label on the bottle, and understood 
the matter well enough to realize that it was a kind of 
Burgundy, much stronger than claret. He took a 
couple of the bottles from the bin, and put them in the 
pockets of his pea-jacket. 

“ Give me that key, Pierre,” said Gregory. 

“No! no! no!” protested the Frenchman, with the 
greatest earnestness. 

Certainly Pierre had given his confidence to the 
officer without any reserve ; but he had done so only 
after he had partaken of the wine offered him. 
Whether Pierre had any Arabian notions about hospi- 
tality, and believed that Gregory could not betray him 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 


233 


after drinking out of the same bottle ; or whether he 
thought that the officer could not misuse his secret 
after he had shared in fhe guilt by partaking of the 
stolen fruit, or the juice of it, — or not, — cannot be 
imagined ; but he seemed to be as free with his officer 
as though he had been one of his companions in the 
fire-room. 

But Pierre had an opinion of his own in regard to 
the key ; and he positively refused to give it up. Greg- 
ory began to feel the effects of the strong Burgundy in 
his head, for he could not carry off a whole tumbler of 
it without being fearfully shaken in his upper works. 
He felt the need of fresh air ; for the hold was hot 
from the furnaces. He tottered back by the way he 
had come, followed by Pierre, <who was evidently 
assured that he had made a friend of the first officer 
of the steamer, and that was almost as good as securing 
an alliance with the captain. The Frenchman assisted 
the officer of the deck out of the hold, for his steps 
were becoming more and more unsteady as the fumes 
of the wine rose in his head. 

“ What is the row down in the fire-room ? ” asked 
Alexander, as the tipsy officer appeared in the engine- 
room. 

“ Nothing particular,” replied Gregory, trying to 
stiffen the tones of his voice, which he could not help 
realizing were very shaky. “The Frenchmen feel 
good, and that makes them sing and talk loud ; but 
they are so far from the cabin that they can’t be heard, 
and won’t disturb any one. Do you know whether 
there is any wine on board ? ” asked Gregory. 

“ I don’t think there is ; but I wish there were some, 


234 


ISLES OF THE SEA ; OR, 


for I think a little of it would wake me up,” replied 
Alexander. 

“ Wait a minute, then,” added the first officer as he 
stepped out of the engine-room, and went to the mess- 
room, where a lunch was kept on the table for the ben- 
efit of the officers and seamen of the watch. Drawing 
the cork of one of the bottles, and taking a tumbler 
from the table, he hastened back to the engine-room as 
fast as his shaky legs would permit, and poured out a 
glass of the rich Burgundy, and offered it to the chief 
engineer. 

“ What’s this ? ” asked Alexander, taking the glass. 

“ You said you wished there was some wine on board, 
and that a little of it would wake you up,” added Greg- 
ory. “ Here it is ; ” and he spilled a part of it on the 
floor as the steamer gave a smart roll. 

Alexander took the glass, though he had some serious 
doubts about drinking it. He had very rarely drank 
wine ; he very rarely had a chance to drink it ; but if it 
would wake the firemen, as the noise indicated that it 
did, — for he was not so stupid as not to understand 
what produced the unusual hilarity when Gregory came 
out of the fire-room, and offered him a glass of wine, — 
it would have the same effect on him. Still he hesitated 
till one of his longest gapes had nearly choked him ; 
and then he drank off the contents of the glass. 

“ Now we are in for it together ! ” exclaimed Greg- 
ory, when the engineer had tipped off the red draught. 

“ What do you mean by that ? ” demanded Alexan- 
der, who did not exactly like the words, or the chuckle 
that accompanied them. 

“ Give us your hand, Mr. Alexander ! we are friends 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 


235 


now, if you do belong to the Tritonia,” said the male- 
content, with a laugh, for the liquor was beginning to 
make him a little excitable. 

The engineer could not well refuse his hand, and he 
gave it to the jolly officer of the deck. Gregory left 
the engine-room, and went to the mess-room. It was 
lighted, and he found a hiding-place for the two bottles 
of wine. He walked about the deck in the fresh air of 
the night ; and he felt happy and contented for the 
time, and not at all inclined to foment a mutiny. When 
four bells were struck, and Clinch reported to him to 
relieve the deck, he let him into the secret, and gave 
him a tumbler of the Burgundy. He took another at 
the same time, and turned in without waiting to observe 
the effect upon the third officer. 


236 


ISLES OF THE SEA ; OR, 


CHAPTER XVII. 

STRIKING WHILE THE IRON IS HOT. 

B URGUNDY is bad stuff for anybody, and espe- 
cially bad for boys. Clinch found it necessary 
to keep at a respectful distance from the seamen of his 
quarter-watch, for he was conscious of being quite un- 
steady on his feet ; of being shaky to a degree that 
could not be accounted for by the motion of the 
steamer. But he knew what he was about all the time ; 
and, when he attended to the heaving of the log, he 
kept up a constant shouting to the hands at the line, to 
stimulate their interest in their work, and thus prevent 
them from observing him. But the very thickness of 
his tones as he spoke was enough to betray him, if 
there had been any one present who was accustomed to 
this phase of intoxication. 

Alexander had found it more difficult to keep awake 
after he had loaded himself with Burgundy than it was 
before. If he kept his seat, he was sure to fall asleep ; 
and several times he “lost himself.” He knew that 
the captain had a habit of prowling about the deck at 
all hours of the night, as well as of the day ; and for 
this reason he felt obliged to keep on his feet during 
the remainder of his watch, for it would have ruined 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 


237 


him to have the commander find him asleep at his 
post. He did not consider the Burgundy experiment a 
success. 

Gregory slept like a log in his state-room till eight 
o’clock, when all hands were called. He got out of his 
berth with an aching head, and was as cross as a 
spoiled child. He went to breakfast ; but the strong 
wine had destroyed his appetite so that he could not 
taste food, and he only drapk a cup of coffee. When 
the meal was finished, Capt. Fairfield, who had pre- 
pared the forward part of the cabin for a schoolroom, 
summoned the starboard watch to attend to their reci- 
tations. The lessons had been assigned the day be- 
fore ; and the port-watch, composed of the officers and 
seamen from the Tritonia, had faithfully studied them. 
Richards had done so while on duty in the engine- 
room, for he had not work enough to keep him em- 
ployed half of the time. He was so accustomed to 
watching the gauge and the motion of the machinery, 
that he could do it mechanically, as one writes with a 
pen without thinking that he is writing. The chief 
engineer had also studied his lessons when he ought to 
have been asleep. 

Gregory heard the summons to the recitation. He 
had not studied his lessons, and the call was an un- 
pleasant one to him. The after-effect of the heavy 
drams of Burgundy he had taken was not only to 
,make him cross, like a wilful child, but as ugly as a 
hungry wild beast. He looked at the Josephines of the 
starboard-watch, as they passed into the cabin ; and 
they appeared to him like lambs going to the slaughter. 
Not that they all, or even many of them, objected to 


238 


ISLES OF THE SEA ; OR, 


the recitations ; but he judged them by himself, and 
interpreted their feelings by his own. He was utter- 
ly opposed to the quarter-watch arrangement, which 
seemed to be connected with the study scheme, inas- 
much as it afforded every student his needed recreation 
without interfering with his lessons in ordinary weather. 
He wanted the four hours’ leisure when his watch was 
off duty. 

Before the students had all seated themselves at the 
tables arranged for study purposes, Clinch came to the 
main door of the cabin, at which Gregory was standing. 
They had been cronies since they came into the Joseph- 
ine, and each understood the other perfectly. Like 
many others, they had both been sent to the academy 
squadron after being expelled from other literary insti- 
tutions. They would have passed for bad boys before ; 
but the novel discipline of the nautical school had at 
least produced a temporary reform. They had not 
been made over in their minds and hearts, as many 
had ; but they had been transformed into obedient 
sailors and diligent scholars. This was not enough ; 
but it was better than nothing. Gregory was fourth 
lieutenant, and Clinch third master, of the Josephine; 
and no doubt they had fairly won these positions by 
their attention and zeal. 

“ Bob Clinch,” called Gregory, as the third officer 
was passing into the cabin. 

“What do you want, Dave?” demanded Clinch. 

“ I want to see you.” 

“What for?” 

“ Come out here, and I will tell you.” 

Gregory led the way to the port side of the deck, 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 239 

l 

and hauled his friend into a corner where he could 
speak to him without interruption. But suddenly he 
seemed to change his mind, and conducted him to 
the mess-room, which was not occupied at this time. 
Taking from its hiding-place in the bottom of a locker 
one of the bottles of Burgundy, he filled a couple of 
glasses from it ; and the cronies tossed them off quite 
as a matter of course, as though it were a part of the 
regular routine of the vessel. Neither of them spoke a 
word, for each understood the other without any 
speeches. 

“ I object to the present order of things on board,” 
said Gregory, when he had restored the bottle to its 
hiding-place, and rinsed the glasses so that no telltale 
odor should betray him. “I am not going in to the 
recitations.” 

“ Then there will be a row,” added Clinch lightly, as 
though it were of no particular consequence if there 
should be a tempest on board. 

“ I don’t care if there is : in fact, I should rather 
like a little excitement,” added Gregory. “ I don’t 
feel at home on board of this craft. I have been 
snubbed half a dozen times by O’Hara since I came 
into the steamer.” 

“ Well, what are you going to do about it ? ” 

“ I am not going into the cabin to the recitations, in 
the first place.” 

“ But you will have to fight that out with Capt. Fair- 
field, and not with O’Hara,” suggested Clinch. “ He 
is the schoolmaster of the ship.” 

“ I don’t care whom I fight it out with. I feel that I 
have been a good boy about as long as it will pay. It 


240 


ISLES OF THE SEA ; OR, 


looks to me just as though we had come to the end of 
our service in the Josephine.” 

“ But we shall return to her.” 

“ I have my doubts about that. When we get to 
England, if we go there, this vessel will be seized, at- 
tached, taken possession of, or something or other of 
that sort, and we shall all be afloat at loose ends; and 
how shall we get back to the squadron among the Isles 
of the Sea? The Prince is not going to wait for us , 
and we have lost the Madeiras, which I wanted to see 
more than all the rest of the islands.” 

“ I heard our vice-principal say that passengers are 
entitled to salvage if they save a vessel after she has 
been abandoned, or if they help take her into port 
after she has been partially disabled ; and I suppose 
Mr. Frisbone will attend to the business, so far as the 
steamer is concerned.” 

“ No matter for that : if we get to England, we shall 
have no vessel to chase the squadron in ; and I don’t 
believe we shall ever find it. I think the cruise of the 
fleet is ended, as I said.” 

“ What is the use of beating about the bush all day, 
Dave ? if you have any thing to say, why don’t you say 
it. What do you mean to do ? ” demanded Clinch, a 
little impatiently. 

“ Are you going in to the recitations, Bob ? ” asked 
Gregory, as though this would settle the whole matter. 

“ No, not if you don’t : I shall follow your lead.” 

“ That’s all I want to know,” replied Gregory, open- 
ing the door of the mess-room, and passing out on the 
main deck. 

“ But that isn’t all I want to know,” added Clinch, 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 


241 


following him. " If there is going to be a row, I want 
to know my way into it, and my way out of it.” 

“ I don’t know that there will be any row,” answered 
Gregory. 

“ If you refuse to attend recitations there will be, 
without any doubt.” 

“ Capt. Fairfield wishes to see Mr. Gregory and Mr. 
Clinch in the cabin,” said one of the quartermasters 
of the starboard watch, touching his cap to the con- 
spirators at this moment. 

“ Tell Mr. Fairfield, that, with entire respect for him, 
we have decided not to attend recitations to-day,” re- 
plied Gregory promptly. 

Stokes was the quartermaster who had delivered the 
message ; and he started back with astonishment at 
the reply of the first officer. 

“ Shall I say that to him ? ” he asked, thinking that 
perhaps Gregory was joking. 

“ Say that to him,” added Gregory decidedly. 

By this time the fumes of the wine were well up into 
his head, and he had a courage not his own ; and Clinch 
was affected in the same way. 

“ Very well, Mr. Gregory,” replied Stokes ; but he 
did not seem inclined to deliver the message. 

“ Why don’t you go back to the cabin with the an- 
swer I gave you ? ” demanded the first officer ; but his 
manner was strange to the quartermaster, — rather silly 
and simpering. 

“ If the officers of the ship do not attend recitations, 
I don’t know why the seamen should,” added Stokes, 
encouraged to make the remark by the light tone of 
his superior. 


242 


ISLES OF THE SEA ; OR, 


“ They can do as they please,” answered Gregory, 
with a snuff and a chuckle. “ But go and deliver the 
message to the instructor.” 

“I should like to ask if the rest of the starboard 
watch may decide not to attend recitations,” continued 
Stokes, who was very anxious to learn something more 
in regard to the position of the officers before him. 

“ Come into the mess-room, Stokes,” said Gregory, 
leading the way. “ The rest of the watch can do just 
as they please.” * 

The young tippler — he was nineteen — took the 
bottle from the locker, and, knowing the quartermaster 
very well, he gave him a glass of the wine. Possibly 
he thought the dose would stimulate his ideas, and en- 
able him to reach the conclusion to which his superiors 
had arrived. Stokes was willing enough to imbibe, and 
he drank off the contents of the glass. 

“I should like to know what’s up,” said the messen- 
ger from the cabin. 

“ In a word, then, we don’t like the way things are 
managed on board. The captain has disregarded his 
instructions ; and that absolves us all from obeying his 
orders,” replied Gregory, as he drank another dram. 

“ Is that the idea ? ” asked Stokes. 

“ That’s just it. The captain has divided us into 
quarter-watches, and it is by his royal mandate that we 
are to study our lessons and recite them.” 

“The captain’s? If that is so, how does Capt. Fair- 
field happen to be on board ? ” inquired Stokes, who 
could not help seeing the flaw in the first officers 
argument. 

“ I suppose he was sent on board to look after us a 
little.” 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 


243 


“ But all hands were required to take their books and 
exercise-papers with them. ,, 

“That was so that any might study who were inclined. 
I am not inclined.” 

“ No more am I,” added Stokes, laughing, as the 
Burgundy began to operate in his upper story. 

“ As a matter of duty, I don’t know as we ought to 
let this thing go any farther ; for, as the case stands 
now, O’Hara is actually running away with the vessel,” 
continued Gregory, whose speech was beginning to be 
a little thick. “ When a lot of fellows ran away with 
the Tritonia, and were going on an independent cruise 
in her, the ones that took possession of her and brought 
her back were treated like lords by the faculty, and 
praised up to the skies for what they had done.” 

“ Come in, Lawring ! ” called Clinch, as he saw the 
other quartermaster of the starboard watch at the door 
of the mess-room. 

“ Capt. Fairfield sent me to see what had become of 
Stokes,” said Lawring, as he came into the mess- 
room. 

“ Well, you see, don’t you ? ” leered Gregory, whose 
head was buzzing as though it contained a circular saw 
in motion. “ Here, Lawring, you are a good fellow.” 

The first officer took the second bottle of Burgundy 
from the locker (for the first was empty by this time), 
and filled the glass on the table. Clinch looked out 
of the window on the deck to warn his companion of the 
approach of any one who might interfere with their 
pastime. But no one disturbed them. 

“ Drink this, Lawring,” said Gregory, when he had 
filled the glass. 


244 


ISLES OF THE SEA ; OR, 


“ What is it ? ” inquired the quartermaster, as he 
looked from one to another in the apartment, wonder- 
ing what could be going on. 

“ It’s the best wine on board of the Ville d’Angers, 
and as good as you can find anywhere,” replied Greg- 
ory in maudlin tones. “Take it, Lawring: it will do 
you good.” 

“ Thank you, Mr. Gregory : I never drink wine,” an- 
swered the quartermaster, as he looked over the three 
former occupants of the mess-room ; an’d he was fully 
satisfied that all of them had been partaking of the 
wine. 

If the first officer of the steamer was not tipsy, he 
had never seen a person in that condition. 

“ If you never drank any wine, it is time for you to 
begin,” chuckled Gregory. 

“ Thank you, Mr. Gregory : I don’t wish for any,” 
returned Lawring decidedly. 

“ I tell you to drink it ; and I am the first officer of 
this craft.” 

“ Excuse me : I signed the pledge before I left home ; 
and I intend never to drink any thing as long as I live.” 

“ But I am your superior officer ! ” persisted Gregory, 
in broken speech. “ You must obey me ! ” 

The tippler began to be angry, and stormed at the 
quartermaster in his incoherent speech. 

“ I will not drink wine in obedience to any body’s 
orders,” replied Lawring firmly. 

“You won’t! then I’ll make you drink it ! ” 

“ Dry up, Dave ! ” interposed Clinch. 

“What reply shall I take to Capt. Fairfield, Stokes ?* 
asked Lawring, as he opened the door behind him. 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 245 

“Tell Capt. Fairfield, that, with entire respect for him, 
we have decided not to attend any recitations,” an- 
swered Stokes, sending the reply which Gregory had 
given him. 

“ Don’t let him go till I bust in his head ! ” exclaimed 
the first officer, staggering towards the door to intercept 
the departing quartermaster. 

“ No, no ; don’t get up a fight here,” said Clinch, 
taking his crony by the collar, and detaining him. 

Lawring did not wait for any thing more ; but has- 
tened back to the cabin, where the rest of the watch 
were engaged in their recitations. 

“ Stokes says, that, with entire respect for you, Capt. 
Fairfield, he has decided not to attend any recitations,” 
said Lawring, reporting to the instructor. 

“ Indeed ! and did you see Gregory and Clinch ? ” 
inquired the astonished teacher. 

“ They were all in the mess-room forward, sir.” 

“ What does this mean ? did they assign any reason 
for their conduct ? ” 

“ No, sir ; but I think that all three of them have 
been drinking wine ; and Mr. Gregory is intoxicated,” 
added the quartermaster. 

“Intoxicated!” exclaimed Capt. Fairfield. “I 
think you must be mistaken, Lawring.” 

“ No, sir, I am not. They had a bottle of red wine, 
and Mr. Gregory asked me to drink a glass of it.” 

Capt. Fairfield was bewildered at this intelligence. 
Three of the students who ought to be at their studies 
were drinking wine in the mess-room. Certainly this 
was all wrong. The students were not allowed to 
drink wine, to say nothing of refusing to attend to the 


246 


ISLES OF THE SEA ; OR, 


lessons. But the instructor was a prudent man ; and 
he paused to consider his own powers in the premises. 
He had been sent on board to instruct the ship’s com- 
pany ; and he concluded that his authority was the 
same as that of any other professor in the absence of 
the principal or a vice-principal. He had the entire 
control of the students during study hours, unless they 
were ordered to do ship’s duty by the captain. He 
could not interfere with the navigation of the vessel ; 
but he could compel the attendance of the pupils at 
the proper hours in the cabin. 

Leaving the cabin, he went on the poop-deck, where 
O’Hara was, and stated the case to him. The young 
captain was very much disconcerted by the intelligence 
that some of the students were insubordinate, but 
especially so that the first and third officers were in 
a state of intoxication and rebellion. It was clear 
enough that the tipplers had found a way to get into 
the wine-room in the hold. Mr. Frisbone had taken 
the key to this room ; and it was a mystery how the 
students had got into it. 

O’Hara told Capt. Fairfield that he had full powers 
to compel the attendance of the members of the star- 
board-watch in the cabin, and advised him to call upon 
the boatswain and carpenter if he needed any assist- 
ance. While the instructor went to attend to this 
duty, O’Hara called for the stewards, and visited the 
hold with them. They knew nothing about the wine 
or the wine-room. The door was locked, and all ap- 
peared to be right about it. But, while they were inves- 
tigating the matter, the captain saw Alfonzo come out 
of the fire-room, and creep under the engine to the door 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 


247 


leading into the after-hold. He went below again, and 
the fireman unlocked the door of the wine-room. When 
he had gone in, the captain crept up to the door, and 
took out the key. Calling the two stewards, they drove 
Alonzo out, and locked the door. 

“ Keep this key,” said O’Hara to the man who acted 
as chief steward, “and search the ship all over. If 
you find any wine or liquors, lock them up.” 

It so happened that the firemen had exhausted the 
supply they had in the fire-room, and had sent Alfonso 
for another stock. He had found the key in the fire- 
room. The stewards found that which Gregory had 
concealed in the locker, and it was secured. No wine 
was to be had except in the wine-room. As a further 
precaution, the captain ordered the carpenter to trans- 
fer two heavy bars of iron from another door to this 
one. As each bar was secured by a large lock, it was 
not likely the room would be broken into. 

Capt. Fairfield went to the mess-room after he left 
the captain. The students there were respectful to 
him at first ; but, when he spoke of enforcing his au- 
thority, Gregory was impudent ; and the others, whose 
heads were full of wine, followed his example. 

But the instructor was a rigid disciplinarian ; and, 
calling in Shakings, they dragged the first and third 
officers and the quartermaster into the cabin. But they 
were all too much intoxicated to study or recite ; and 
Capt. Fairfield locked them into a couple of spare 
state-rooms. 

By noon they had all slept off the effects of the wine. 
O’Hara had been thinking all the morning about the 
case of discipline on hand, and confidently expected 


248 


ISLES OF THE SEA j OR, 


trouble as soon as the time came to change the watch. 
He had made up his mind what to do ; but his action 
must be governed by the circumstances. Only three of 
the students from the Josephine had thus far been in- 
subordinate ; but all the rest might join them. But he 
apprehended no difficulty, for the officers and seamen 
from the Tritonia were enough to handle the steamer. 

Gregory had been let out of the state-room, com- 
pletely sobered, at half-past eleven, so that he could 
dine with his watch in season to take the deck at noon. 
He was even more cross and ugly than he had been in 
the morning. 

“ All the starboard-watch on deck ! ” shouted the 
acting boatswain, piping the call. 

Gregory did not move from the seat he had taken at 
the cabin-door. O’Hara trembled as he saw that the 
first officer was intent upon making trouble. 

“The deck is yours, Mr. Gregory,” said Raymond, 
tendering to him the trumpet, in the usual form. 

“ I don’t want it,” growled the first officer. “ I shall 
not do duty any more.” 

Raymond reported the answer to the captain. 

“ Call all hands ! ” said O’Hara promptly. 

The call was immediately piped. As on board the 
vessels of the squadron, every officer and seaman had 
his station, and was required to repair to it instantly, 
whether the call came by day or night. 

Every one went to his station except the three who 
had refused to attend the recitations. Possibly the 
conspirators could have induced others of their ship- 
mates in the Josephine to join them ; but they had had 
no time to work the case up. 



Mr. Shakings takes Charge of the First Officer. Page 249. 































YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 


249 


“ Here, Winchell ! ” shouted Gregory to one of his 
own watch. “ Don’t go ! We are going to stand out. 
O’Hara is running away with the steamer, and we need 
not obey orders.” 

“ Mr. Shakings, you will take charge of the first 
officer,” said the young captain. “ Lock him into his 
state-room, and keep him there.” 

Clinch followed the lead of his crony, and Mr. Rim- 
mer was directed to serve him in the same way. Both 
of them were disposed to show fight ; but 4he stout 
boatswain and carpenter made quick work with them. 
Stokes concluded, at this particular moment, not to 
“ stand out,” and went to his station at the wheel. 

No doubt Gregory was astonished to find himself 
and his conspiracy so easily overcome. He was a 
prisoner by himself, and likely to remain so for a con- 
siderable time. 

As soon as the mutineers were disposed of, O’Hara 
called the ship’s company together. He did not allude 
to the event which had just transpired, except to state the 
fact that there were two vacancies in the officers’ cabin ; 
and it was necessary that they should be immediately 
filled, for two quarter-watches were without officers. 
After consulting with Speers and Raymond, both of 
whom insisted that the vacant places should be filled 
without promoting either of them, the captain appointed 
Lawring first officer in place of Gregory, and Taylor in 
place of Clinch ; both of them from the Josephine. 

The firemen made a new demand for wine ; but they 
obtained none, and they did not deem it prudent to 
“ strike ” again. In five days more the Ville d’ Angers 
arrived at Portsmouth, with the Castle William in tow. 


25 ° 


ISLES OF THE SEA ; OR, 


CHAPTER XVIII. 

A TRIP TO THE CANARY ISLANDS. 

A RRIVED at Portsmouth, steamer Ville d’An- 
gers, having in tow the hulk of the ship Castle 
William, dismasted in the violent gale of April 8,” 
read Mr. Pelham, from a newspaper which had just 
been received by the African steamer. 

He had hastened on board of the Prince with the 
paper as soon as he obtained it. The news was cer- 
tainly very important, for it assured the principal that 
the missing steamer was safe ; and, in the absence of 
any additional intelligence, it was presumed that her 
crew were all well. 

Mr. Fluxion took the paper, and looked it over. 
He was especially happy because his confident predic- 
tion that the Ville d’Angers was all right, had been 
fully verified. Mr. Lowington was delighted in the 
safety of the students on board of her. The Marian 
was still in port; for Judge Rod wood enjoyed the 
climate of the island and the frequent hospitality of 
Don Roderigue so much, that he was in no haste to 
pursue his truant ward. 

A boat was immediately sent to the Marian to inform 
the judge that his ward had been heard from, and was 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 


25 1 


believed to be all right. He was glad to hear it, though 
he seemed to be in no hurry to leave the beautiful 
islands. 

“ Ah, here is more news ! ” exclaimed Mr. Fluxion, 
who was still looking over the paper. 

“ About the steamer ? ” asked Mr. Lowington. 

“ Yes, sir : here is a tolerably full account of the 
voyage of the Ville d’Angers, and of the state of things 
on board of the Castle William,” continued the senior 
vice-principal, as he seated himself under the awning 
on the quarter-deck of the American Prince. 

* “ Let us hear it,” added the principal eagerly. 

It was a Southampton paper ; and the editor reminded 
his readers of the visit of the academy squadron to the 
waters of the Solent and Spithead, and the race around 
the Isle of Wight, about six years before. Then fol- 
lowed an account of the picking-up of the French 
steamer, and the subsequent falling-in with the wreck 
of the Castle William. 

“A very wealthy American gentleman,” the article 
continued, “who was the patron of the academy 
squadron, and had presented to its distinguished prin- 
cipal an elegant and costly steam-yacht of twelve hun- 
dred tons burden, happened to be a passenger, with 
his family, in the Ville d’Angers from Havre to Malaga. 
When the condition of things on board of the unfortu- 
nate Castle William was ascertained, this noble-hearted 
gentleman, with his wife and her sister, went on board 
of the hulk where pestilence and death were raging, 
and tenderly nursed the sick. Mr. Frisbone, who 'is 
jocosely called the ‘ American Prince/ — and he is one 
of Nature’s most royal princes, — immediately resorted 


ISLES OF THE SEA ; OR, 


2 5 2 

to various sanitary measures, and with his own hands 
whitewashed the space between decks of the fever- 
stricken vessel. The medicines and supplies put on 
board of the ship by the steamer were so well used 
that the sick immediately began to improve ; and now 
all are doing well. They have all been removed to 
the quarantine hospital, where the small-pox patients 
are convalescent. 

“ Undoubtedly the careful nursing of the sick by 
this self-sacrificing gentleman and the ladies saved 
the lives of many, if not all, of the sick. Certainly 
the heroic exertions of the young gentlemen of the 
school-ship saved the vessel and her freight of human 
beings ; and they deserve the highest praise. Mr. 
Frisbone, as the agent of the principal of the academy 
squadron, has libelled the Castle William for salvage ; 
and we learn that negotiations for an amicable adjust- 
ment of the amount are in progress. The owners of 
the steamer, by their attorney, have already put in their 
claim for the Ville d’Angers, subject to reasonable sal- 
vage. 

“ We regret to add that there has been some trouble 
about the discipline among the young officers of the 
steamer. The first and third officers of the steamer, 
appointed by the senior vice-principal in charge of 
one of the vessels of the academy squadron, were 
mutinous, and refused to do duty, attempting to incite 
others of the crew to follow their example. Possibly 
it was a boyish frolic; but the young captain promptly 
caused the arrest of the two offenders, and has kept 
them prisoners in their state-rooms up to the present 
time. But all the rest of the ship’s company yield a 
willing obedience to the authority of the captain. 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 


253 


“We regard Capt. O’Hara, for such is his name, 
as a rather remarkable young gentleman. Mr. Fris- 
bone assures our informant that he is a thorough sea- 
man, having served before the mast, and worked his 
way up to fourth lieutenant of the vessel to which he is 
attached. He was born in Italy, of an Irish father 
formerly in the English consular service, and an Italian 
mother. He is twenty years of age, and speaks Italian 
and French as fluently as he does English. Though 
there is an instructor, as well as two adult forward offi- 
cers, attached to the ship, she is under the entire man- 
agement of her youthful commander.” 

This was the principal portion of the article which 
Mr. Fluxion read, to which the party gave the most 
undivided attention. Of course it was gratifying to the 
professional pride of the principal ; and both of the 
vice-principals congratulated themselves upon their 
own discretion in appointing O’Hara to the command 
of the steamer, though it was not foreseen that he 
would make such an extended cruise in her. 

“ I am sorry to learn that there has been trouble on 
board of the steamer,” said Mr. Lowington, when the 
account of the voyage had been partly digested. 

“ But O’Hara seems to have made an end of the 
mutiny at once,” replied Mr. Fluxion. 

“ He is a very decided fellow,” added Mr. Pelham. 
“ He is a peaceable and well-disposed young man ; but 
he would fight his way through any thing if the occasion 
required.” 

“ This paper says the first and third officers were 
insubordinate,” continued the principal anxiously. 
“ Who were these officers ? ” 


254 ISLES OF THE SEA ; OR, 

“ Gregory was the first, and Clinch was the third 
officer,” replied Mr. Fluxion, not a little disconcerted, 
as the heavy frown on his brow indicated. “ I am sorry 
to say that both of them were from the Josephine.” 

“ They used to be bad boys,” said Mr. Lowington. 

“ For the last year there have been no better officers 
or students in the vessel than Gregory and Clinch. I 
don’t understand it,” replied Mr. Fluxion, musing. 
“ Possibly O’Hara has been a little airy, and provoked 
them : it would not be strange if any young fellow 
should feel good, in command of a steamer of six hun- 
dred tons.” 

“ It is not at all like O’Hara to put on airs,” inter- 
posed Mr. Pelham. 

“ Even if he did, that is no excuse for Gregory,” 
added Mr. Fluxion. 

“ I suppose we shall not understand the matter till 
we see the students, and get their account of the 
affair,” said Mr. Lowington. 

“ The name of my ward is not mentioned in connec- 
tion with this business,” remarked the judge. 

“ He is not mentioned as a mutineer ; and so far it 
is perfectly satisfactory,” added Dr. Phelps. 

“ I have no doubt he has done his duty faithfully,” 
said Mr. Pelham. 

“ But when shall we have these young fellows back 
here?” asked Judge Rodwood. 

“ That is more than I can tell : they are out of my 
reach, and I cannot instruct them what to do,” replied 
the principal. “ But Mr. Frisbone is happily with 
them ; and I have entire confidence in his good judg- 
ment and discretion.” 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 


2 55 


“What will he do with them? He has no authority 
over them ; and I fancy, if they once get ashore, Capt. 
O’Hara will not be as powerful as he seems to have 
been on board. What will they do ? ” 

“ I have no doubt Mr. Frisbone will send them to 
these islands in the next steamer, and come himself, 
if he is not wholly disgusted with his experience at 
sea.” 

“ The steamer which arrived to-day is an extra one,” 
said Mr. Pelham. “ The next steamer will not leave 
Southampton till the 24th of the month, and will arrive 
on the 30th. 

“And this is only the 21st,” added the judge. 
“ Shall we remain here nine or ten days longer?” 

“ We will consider that matter,” replied Mr. Lowing- 
ton, rising from his deck-chair. 

The conference was ended, and all returned to their 
own vessels. The principal went forward to the chart- 
room, on the table of which was spread out the chart 
of the North Atlantic. He looked it over, applied the 
parallel ruler and the dividers. In less than half an 
hour orders were sent to the Josephine and the Tri- 
tonia to sail at four o’clock in the afternoon for Santa 
Cruz, Teneriffe, one of the Canary Islands. Notice 
of this intention was sent to Judge Rodwood, who 
immediately hastened on board of the Prince to ascer- 
tain more definitely the intentions of the principal. 

“ You seem to have come to a sudden conclusion,” 
said the judge, when he met the principal on the deck 
of the Prince. 

“ My absent students cannot get to Funchal under 
ten days ; and I cannot afford to lose so much time,” 


256 


ISLES OF THE SEA ; OR, 


replied Mr. Lowington. “ It is only a day’s run for 
the steamer to the Canaries ; and we can spend a week 
at Santa Cruz, or in cruising about the islands, and 
return in season to take them on board.” 

“ Excellent ! ” exclaimed the judge. “ I shall go 
with you ; and this excursion will afford me an oppor^ 
tunity to reciprocate the hospitality of our friend Don 
Roderigue ; for I shall invite him and his family to 
take passage in the Marian.” 

“ I was just thinking of offering them state-rooms 
on board of the American Prince ; but I have no 
doubt you can accommodate them more elegantly than 
I can ; and I will yield the privilege to you, judge.” 

“ Thank you, Mr. Principal.” 

Judge Rodwood hastened on shore to extend the 
invitation to Don Roderigue ; and great was the 
delight of the young officers when they saw Dona 
Maria go on board of the Marian just before the hour 
appointed for the sailing of the squadron. They 
lustily cheered the party. Don Roderigue raised his 
hat, and bowed his thanks, while his daughter vigor- 
ously waved her handkerchief. 

Promptly at the hour set, the two steamers and the 
two schooners got under way, and stood out of the 
Bay of Funchal. The wind was quite fresh from the 
west, veering a little to the north, so that the sailing- 
vessels had all the breeze they wanted. It had been 
agreed that the vessels of the fleet should keep to- 
gether, and the steamers were worked at about two- 
thirds of their ordinary speed to accommodate them. 
The course was true south till seven o’clock in the 
morning, when the Salvages, a group of islands with 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 


257 


very rocky and dangerous surroundings, bore to the 
eastward ; and then the fleet was headed to the east 
south-east. The islands looked barren and forbidding. 

“ Land, sharp on the weather-bow ! ” shouted the 
lookout on the top-gallant forecastle of the Tritonia. 

“ Land ! ” exclaimed Scott, who had the deck. 
“ There is no land within a hundred miles in that 
direction. The lookout has a gravel-stone in his eye, 
and thinks it is an island.’* 

“ Don’t be too sure of that, Scott,” added the vice- 
principal, leaping on the rail at the weather side, and 
looking out in the direction indicated by the lookout. 
“ I see it.” 

The lieutenant sprang into the weather rigging, and 
strained his eyes to the utmost ; but he could see noth- 
ing that looked like land. 

“ I think I am getting blind, sir,” added Scott, with 
a laugh. 

“ Where are you looking ? Up here ! ” and Mr. 
Pelham pointed a considerable distance above the 
horizon. 

“ Up there ! I shouldn’t think of looking up there 
for land, unless I expected to find it in the moon,” 
replied Scott. “The Mountains of the Moon are away 
over on the other side of Africa. Are you looking for 
them ? ” 

“ Don’t you see that mountain ? ” continued Mr 
Pelham, pointing again. 

“I see it now,” answered Scott, as he made out a 
mazy mass, high above the horizon. “ What in the 
world is that ? ” 

“Tt is the peak of Teneriffe.” 


ISLES OF THE SEA j OR, 


258 

“ I have heard enough about it to know it without 
an introduction.” 

“ It must be nearly a hundred miles off.” 

“ And we are in no immediate danger of getting 
aground on that land.” 

This mountain was the point of attraction for the 
day, as it gradually displayed its outline more clearly 
to the students. At three o’clock in the afternoon, the 
squadron rounded Point Anaga, the north-eastern cape 
of Teneriffe. It was only nine miles farther to the 
chief town of the island ; and by five, the squadron 
was at anchor, and all the formalities of the govern- 
ment had been complied with. 

At eight the next morning all hands were assembled 
in the grand saloon of the Prince, to hear what Mr. 
Mapps had to say about the Canary Islands in general, 
and Teneriffe in particular. 

“ The Islas Canarias, as the Spaniards have it, or 
the Canaries, or Canary Islands, as we have it, lie 
between thirteen and eighteen degrees of west longi- 
tude, and between twenty-seven and a half and twenty- 
nine and a half degrees of north latitude. They have 
an aggregate area of thirty-two hundred square miles, 
and a population of two hundred and twenty-seven 
thousand. There are seven principal islands, the most 
important of which are Teneriffe, Grand Canary, and 
Palma. These islands are all very mountainous, vol- 
canic, and rocky. The peak of Teneriffe, which we 
have had in sight since yesterday morning, is over 
twelve thousand feet high. 

“The two most western islands are Hierro, or Ferro, 
and Palma, both of which contain peaks from five to 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 


2 59 


over seven thousand feet high. The meridian which 
passes through Ferro was the one formerly selected as 
the first, from which longitude was measured ; and for 
this reason it has been adopted as the dividing line be- 
tween the Eastern and Western Hemispheres. Gomera 
is fourteen miles south-west of Teneriffe. The water 
between these islands is very deep ; and there are no 
dangers, except within a few hundred feet of the shore. 

“Teneriffe is forty-five miles long, and twenty-two 
wide. The natives call the summit of the mountain 
which stands in the middle of the island, the ‘ Pico de 
Teyde.’ We saw it yesterday morning when we were 
nearly a hundred miles from it ; and the people say it 
can be seen a hundred and sixty miles, but this is 
vanity on their part. There are generally more or less 
clouds hanging about it. Santa Cruz, or ‘ Holy Cross,’ 
is the most driving city of all the islands of the Atlantic. 
It has twenty thousand inhabitants. The mole which 
you see is of recent construction, and was very much 
needed to protect the shipping from the strong winds 
coming from north-east to south-east. There is some 
British naval history connected with this city. In 1657 
Admiral Blake destroyed a Spanish fleet, anchored un- 
der the batteries of the town • and, favored' by a sudden 
change of wind, got his ships out of the harbor with 
but little loss. Nelson lost an arm here in 1797, and 
was badly beaten in his battle with Fort San Miguel, 
which is still in existence. British flags are so scarce 
with the Spaniards, that those captured in this engage- 
ment are still on exhibition in the principal church of 
the city. In the middle of the summer the heat in the 
town is very oppressive ; and the wealthy inhabitants 


260 


ISLES OF THE SEA ; OR, 


flee from it to Laguna, a place among the hills, five 
miles inland. 

“ On the north-west side of Teneriffe is the port and 
city of Orotava, which is probably the best health sta- 
tion in the world for invalids troubled with throat and 
lung diseases. It is located in an amphitheatre of hills, 
two or three miles from the sea. It is-even superior to 
Madeira in the uniformity of its temperature. The 
region around it is a perfect garden, and the thermome- 
ter never falls below fifty degrees, or rises more than a 
degree or two above eighty ; and these extremes are of 
very rare occurrence. The average temperature is 
about sixty-eight degrees. One month hardly varies 
more than a couple of degrees from the one next to it. 
Invalids here may remain out of doors all the time, 
and keep their windows open night and day. But it 
has not yet become to any great extent a health resort ; 
and there is a lack of accommodations for visitors and 
temporary residents. 

“ The Grand Canary is about fifty miles to the south- 
east of Teneriffe. It is a beautiful island, fertile and 
populous ; and until recently the seat of government, 
which has been transferred to Teneriffe. It has a range 
of mountains, some peaks of which are over six thou- 
sand feet high. Many streams flow from these hills, 
which in the rainy season become raging torrents. 
Las Palmas, or the Palms, is a city of twenty thousand 
inhabitants, formerly the capital of the islands; but 
Santa Cruz de Teneriffe, as it is called to distinguish 
it from another Santa Cruz in the island of Palma, has 
wrested from it this distinction ; and there is a strong 
rivalry between the two places. It is still the Church 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 


261 


capital of the Canaries. It is overlooked by two 
high mountains ; and through the city runs the 
Guiniguada River, which is crossed by a bridge with 
immense arches, built two hundred years ago. It has 
some fine buildings, and several educational institutions. 
The harbor is very bad, for a heavy surf rolls in most 
of the time ; but it has a sheltered port two miles to 
the eastward of it. 

“ Fuerteventura lies east of Teneriffe, and is fifty- 
two-miles long. It has the appearance of being a barren 
island, but has very fertile spots in it. The mountains 
are not so high as in Grand Canary, and it has no good 
harbors. Lanzarote lies to the. north-east, and is thirty- 
one miles long. Alegranza is a small island, and the 
most northerly of the group ; but. it is celebrated as 
being the home from which first came the beautiful 
songster we call the canary-bird. There are other 
small islands. Fuerteventura is only about sixty miles 
from the coast of Africa. 

“These islands form a province of Spain, and are 
represented in the Cortes of the mother country. Mail- 
vessels ply between the different islands, and there is 
frequent communication by steamer with Spain and 
England. The people are Spaniards, a little darker of 
complexion than those you meet in Spain. The islands 
are generally very fertile, and the productions of both 
the torrid and the temperate zone are raised here. The 
vine has been an important item, and forty thousand 
pipes of wine were the average manufacture until 1853, 
when the grape disease destroyed the vines ; but, like 
Madeira, these islands are rapidly recovering from this 
disaster. 


262 


ISLES OF THE SEA ; OR, 


“ The Canaries are believed to have been known to 
the ancients, and to have been mentioned by Pliny 
the Elder, and others, as the Fortunate Islands. The 
ruins of some stone temples in Gomera indicate that 
they were known to the Carthaginians. Like the 
Madeiras, they were discovered in modern days by a 
vessel driven off its course by heavy weather, in 1334. 
They were conquered — and the original inhabitants 
fought well for their country — by Jean de Bethencourt, 
a Norman baron in the service of Spain, in 1402. They 
were claimed by the Portuguese, and the natives were 
troublesome for a long period; but Spain eventually 
obtained full possession.” 

The professor finished his remarks, after he had spo- 
ken for some time about the manners and customs of 
the aborigines of the islands, as indicated by the im- 
plements and ruins found in them ; and then the stu- 
dents of the Tritonia and Josephine returned to their 
vessels. 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 


263 


CHAPTER XIX. 


WALKS AND TALKS ABOUT THE CANARY ISLANDS. 



S soon as the lecture of Mr. Mapps was ended, all 


± V. hands were allowed to go on shore. The elegant 
barge of the Marian had gone directly from the Ameri- 
can Prince to the landing-place, having on board Don 
Roderigue and his daughter. The boat was pulled by 
four seamen with a coxswain in the stern, ?11 attired in 
holiday uniforms ; and the barge was fitted up as gayly 
as a festive gondola in the Grand Canal of Venice, for 
the young lady and her father. 

“ Here we are ! ” exclaimed Lieut. Scott, as he 
stepped on the shore with Capt. Wainwright. “ I had 
an idea we should hear immense flocks of canary-birds 
whistling in the island, and be in canary-seed up to our 
knees.” 

“ Of course you did not expect to see canary-birds in 
the streets of a city, unless you saw them in cages,” 
added the captain. “ Didn’t the professor just tell you 
these birds came from the island of Alegranza ? ” 

“ I supposed he only said that to get off that jaw- 
breaker. I couldn’t tell the names of more than two 
of these islands after he had given them all.” 

“ That was because you had not looked them up be- 


264 


ISLES OF THE SEA ; OR, 


forehand. Most of them are given on the chart of the 
North Atlantic.” 

“ I am not so much of a bookworm as some of the 
fellows.” 

“ Here comes Dr. Winstock,” continued Wainwright, 
as the captain’s barge of the Prince came up to the 
landing. 

“ I suppose he will convoy us here, as he has before,” 
added Scott. “ I wonder if there is a place on the face 
of the earth where he has not been.” 

“ He was a surgeon in the navy for a good many 
years ; and I suppose our men-of-war have visited all 
these islands.” 

“ Are you willing to take us in tow, doctor ? ” asked 
Scott, as the surgeon, attended by Capt. Sheridan and 
Lieut. Murray, approached them. 

“ I shall be very happy to do so if you won’t labor 
too hard with those tremendous jokes of yours,” replied 
the doctor, laughing. 

“ I don’t think I labor very hard at them. I try to 
be as solemn as an owl ; but somehow I don’t get 
along worth a cent,” pleaded Scott. 

“ I should be sorry to have you break your back by 
struggling in the other direction ; and I have not the 
slightest objection to your jokes ; only labor not to be 
funny.” 

“ I strive not to do so ; and I have rejected some of 
the best things ever thought of, because I found I had 
been studying upon them.” 

“ Doubtless you did wisely. But we will commence 
our walk,” added Dr. Winstock, as he led the way from 
the shore. “ I suppose you noticed the appearance of 
the island from the ships ? ” 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 265 

“ I noticed it during the whole of my watch yester- 
day,” replied Scott; “and I thought it looked more 
like a busted volcano than any thing I ever saw be- 
fore.” 

“ At a distance the mountain near the centre seems 
to be the whole island ; and some of the pictures of the 
peak make it rise directly from the sea.” 

“ The whole thing looked like a cinder just raked out 
of a blacksmith’s forge. It don’t look so now.” 

“ It reminds me of Greece, where the hills are red 
and barren. There appears to be no room for the cul- 
tivation of any thing on this island, as you look at it 
from the sea ; for we cannot see any thing of its beau- 
tiful valleys and plains enclosed by mountains. But the 
appearance is not very far from the fact, for not more 
than one-seventh of the whole surface of the island can 
be cultivated ; but the arable land is immensely produc- 
tive.” 

“ What do they raise here ? ” asked Murray. 

“ Grapes, which they manufacture into wine and 
brandy ; mulberry-trees, with which they feed the silk- 
worm, and silk is one of the exports ; potatoes, wheat, 
Indian corn, oranges, almonds ; and the bees produce 
honey and wax for shipment. Cochineal is a very im- 
portant article of commerce.” 

“ What is cochineal ?” asked Scott. “ I heard some 
one say it was made of bugs, and was used to color 
candy and things.” 

“ Some one told you correctly. Cochineal is a very 
valuable dye-stuff. It consists of the bodies of the cocus 
cadi , a little bug about the size of a grain of barley, 
but more in the shape of a dried pea. It belongs to 


266 


ISLES OF THE SEA ; OR, 


the cocidce , which are the most injurious of insects about 
plants, as in hot-houses. The orange-trees of the Azores 
were well-nigh destroyed by them in 1843 ; and Fayal, 
which usually exports twelve thousand boxes of this 
fruit, did not send off a single one that year.” 

The party had paused on the street near the beach 
to hear the account ; and the doctor pointed out a pack- 
age of the cochineal, as an illustration of his subject. 

“ The cocus cacti is so called because it feeds on a 
certain kind of cactus, which has to be cultivated as 
the food of the insect. The production of cochineal 
was carried on in Mexico, which is the country of the 
cactus, long before it was known to Cortes or any other 
European. Only the female insect is used in the manu- 
facture of the color. The male has wings, but the 
female has none.” 

“That’s so that they cannot go gadding about,” 
added Scott. 

“ Very likely ; for the female fastens herself to a 
plant ; and this branch is cut off with the creature 
upon it. The laborer forms a sort of soft nest on the 
cochineal plant ; and, when the mother has been placed 
on it, she lays her eggs. The young when hatched 
spread themselves over the plant, feeding upon it, till 
they are in condition for use. As the insect produces 
several crops of eggs in a year, the young are soon 
ready to lay eggs ; but they must be killed before they 
are in condition to do this, or it would injure the qual- 
ity of the cochineal. The branch on which the insects 
are gathered is cut, and plunged into boiling water, in 
order to kill them. They are then collected and dried j 
and in this condition it takes seventy thousand of them 
to make a pound of cochineal.” 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 267 

“ Then it is the corpses of these bugs that is used to 
put the red streak into a stick of peppermint candy,” 
added Scott. 

“ Such is the fact ; and it may cure you of the ten- 
dency to eat candy.” 

“ I think not, sir ; for I can stand it if the corpses 
can,” answered Scott. 

* 

“ We will walk up into the town,” continued the doc- 
tor, leading the way. 

“ The houses are very pretty,” said Sheridan, as he 
noticed the extreme whiteness of all the buildings. 

“They are built of stone, and whitewashed.”. 

“Just as they serve erring office-holders at home.” 

“They can’t make them white as these houses 
are.” 

“ Creation ! there is a woman that looks like a squaw 
of a band of travelling Indians! — stove-pipe hat and 
all ! ” exclaimed Scott. “ There is another with a load 
on her head.” 

“ The women are the principal beasts of burden in 
Teneriffe. They walk twenty miles in from the country, 
with a load of market-stuff on their heads,” added the 
doctor. 

There was nothing very peculiar about the costume 
of the woman, except the hat, and a sort of cloth thrown 
over the head, and worn under the hat, which dropped 
over the arms and shoulders, like a shawl. The lower 
class of men wore short trousers, the front covered with 
goat-skin, a short jacket, and gaiters over their shoes. 
Many carried a staff as tall as the arm-pits. There 
were a few beggars about the streets, as there are in all 
Spanish towns; and their costume is as miscellaneous 


268 


ISLES OF THE SEA ; OR, 


as those in Spain wear, except that the cloak is not 
endurable in this warm climate. 

“ This is the Plaza de la Constitution ,” said the doctor 
as they entered a handsome square, bordered by a broad 
street, and liberally provided with street-lamps. 

“ I knew it was before you said a word ! ” exclaimed 
Scott. 

“ How did you know it ? ” 

“ Because the Spaniards all live on the constitution ; 
and they have a square in every town that is big enough 
to hold one, with that name to it,” replied the joker, 
laughing. “ I think they will use the constitution up 
one of these days, and have to fall back on the by- 
laws.” 

“ But this is a very pretty square ; and the whole 
town is as neat as any thing we have seen,” added 
Sheridan. “ These buildings are very fine ; and I am 
sure I had no idea of finding any such a town among 
the Isles of the Sea.” 

“ The Spaniards here think a great deal of their city ; 
and they have been liberal in the matter of public im- 
provements,” replied the surgeon. “ This piece of 
sculpture, which looks something like a monument 
when seen at a distance,” he continued, pointing to the 
object at one end of the enclosure of the square, “is a 
statue of the Virgin of Candelaria, representing her 
appearance to the Guanches , as the original inhabitants 
were called, and thus converting them to Christianity.” 

The colossal statue is on the summit of the monu- 
ment, which has four other figures at the base. At the 
other end of the plaza is a very handsome marble 
cross, which symbolizes the sanctity of the city name. 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 269 

“ This is the house in which was born the Marshal 
O’Donnel, Duke of Tetuan,” said the doctor, as he 
pointed to the building, a small and modest structure. 

“ He is a brave general in the French army. I was 
reading about him the other day. He was taken pris- 
oner at Sedan last summer while we were in the north 
of Europe,” said Scott. 

“ Now, that is not a creditable joke,” added the sur- 
geon. “You ought to know better.” 

“ But I don’t know any better.” 

“You are thinking of Marshal McMahon. This is 
O’Donnel, another man entirely,” interposed the doc- 
tor. 

“ It was not a joke, but a blunder,” said Scott, blush- 
ing. “ They have Irish names ; and both of them seem 
to be out of their element in France and Spain. But 
who is O’Donnel, anyhow ? ” 

“ He isn’t McMahon, anyhow, — nor Gen. Howe. 
His ancestors were Irish refugees, who came here after 
the battle of the Boyne. He went into the Spanish 
army, and was a colonel at the age of twenty-five. 
He distinguished himself as a soldier, and for his ser- 
vices in Morocco was made Duke of Tetuan, which is 
a division of that country. He has had great influence 
as a statesman, having been minister of war, and presi- 
dent of the council. He had his ups and downs, as all 
Spanish statesmen have. He has headed an insurrec- 
tion, and has been banished. He died in 1867. You 
must have heard of him when you were in Spain.” 

“ I think I did, sir ; but I have heard about so many 
men, that I get them a little mixed.” 

“ Like the plaza and the alameda in all Spanish 


270 


ISLES OF THE SEA ; OR, 


towns, this square is the great resort of the people in 
the evening. The band plays here, and the scene is 
quite lively, ” continued Dr. Winstock. “ When I was 
a young man I used to see a deal of flirting on this 
square ; but since I have grown older I don’t notice- 
such things. I was stationed on the coast of Africa, 
in a sloop-of-war, looking out for slavers ; and the ship 
came up here to recruit the health of the men. One of 
our officers was smitten with a Santa Cruz beauty ; and 
he adopted the custom of the country. He followed 
her about the streets, dogged her steps, in a mannei 
that would have amounted to an outrage at home. At 
last he obtained an introduction to her ; but this was 
hardly necessary, though his prejudices required it of 
him. But he only saw her in the plaza, and in the 
Prince Royal Square ; and she evidently liked him as 
well as he did her. Not till they were engaged was he 
permitted by the custom of the islands to enter her 
father’s house, or hotel it was in this instance ; for she 
was a Canarienne , and only a temporary resident.” 

“ Did the officer marry her ? ” asked Murray, with 
deep interest. 

“ Of course you would not be satisfied to have me 
omit the denodment of the novel,” added the surgeon, 
laughing. “ He did marry her ; and I think she is a 
dignified matron in the city of Philadelphia at this 
time.” 

The party walked about the city till they had ex- 
hausted its sights, which was soon done. The doctor 
introduced his charge to the delicious chocolate to be 
had at the cates on the plaza ; but some of them 
declared that it was too thick, and preferred the ice- 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 2*] l 

cream made from the snows of the peak of Teneriffe. 
The cicerone then proposed a long walk, which would 
occupy the rest of the day. 

“ I am ready, for one ; but what do you call a long 
walk, doctor ? Some folks think three miles is a long 
walk ; but I don’t apply the phrase to any thing less 
than fifty miles,” replied Scott. 

“ I propose to go to Laguna, the ancient city of this 
island. It is five miles distant ; and, as the town is two 
thousand feet above the sea, it will be up-hill all the 
way. If you are too tired to walk back, you can return 
in the dilijencia 

The party gladly assented to the plan ; and they 
started out of the city. In a short time they left the 
well-paved streets of the great road, which is fully 
equal to the royal highways of Spain. 

“ Laguna is a summer resort for the wealthy people 
of Santa Cruz ; and the heat on the seashore, when 
the wind comes from the coast of Africa, is intense,” 
said the doctor, as the party trudged on their way. 
“ But it is not the most desirable place on. the island, 
for it is subject to heavy rains. Orotava, concerning 
which I gave Mr. Mapps some information for his lec- 
ture, is a much more desirable place ; and one of these 
days, when a railroad is built to it, the citizens will live 
there in the summer, and do business in the city. We 
shall have an opportunity to visit the place.” 

“ What in the world is that growing in that field ? ” 
asked Scott, as he looked over the walls that bounded 
the road. 

“ What do you suppose ? ” 

“ I haven’t the least idea ; but the plants must be 
sick, for they seem to be tied up in rags.” 


272 


ISLES OF THE SEA j OR, 


“ Those plants are cacti ; and I think I have toltf 
you something about them to-day,” added the doctor. 
“ The rags are tied about them to protect the insects, 
for they are full of them. It takes about three months 
for them to attain their growth, and be ready to lay eggs. 
They furnish the principal occupation of the labor- 
ing-classes since the failure of the vine. When I first 
came along here, this road was bordered with extensive 
and beautiful vineyards ; but they have given place for 
the present to this not very handsome plant, which was 
brought here from Mexico.” 

“ Those are funny-looking houses ! ” exclaimed Mur- 
ray, as they came upon a little collection of dwellings 
of the peasants. 

“ They are very comfortable houses for poor people,” 
replied the doctor ; “ a great deal better than many of 
the laboring-people of Spain occupy.” 

Some of them were built of stone ; others were evi- 
dently composed of poles set in the ground ; and in 
the latter case the walls, as well as the roofs, were 
thatched. 

“ All the poor people do not have houses as good as 
these, but, like the gypsies of Granada, have to burrow 
into the rocks to make caves for dwellings. But this 
is a very soft climate, and the house is not of so much 
consequence as in Russia or Norway.” 

“ There is a woman with a load on her head ! it 
looks like garden-sauce. There is another with a pile 
of wood on her crown,” cried Scott. 

“ Domestic animals are not very plenty in these 
islands ; and the women seem to have a monopoly of 
the carrying-trade,” continued the surgeon. 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 


273 


“ Hi ! Hi ! ” shouted Scott, as they turned a bend 
in the winding road. “ There are your beasts of bur- 
den ! ” 

“What are they? ” asked Sheridan. 

“ Camels ; don’t you know them ? ” 

“ I never saw one before in my life, replied the 
captain of the Prince. 

“ Here is a train of them, each with his bell. We 
are not far from the Great Desert, where these animals 
do all the carrying ; and a considerable number of 
them have been brought to these islands.” 

After a while the novelty of the scenes along the 
road wore off ; and some of them declared that the 
country was not much different from Madeira. About 
two o’clock in the afternoon they reached Laguna, and 
spent a couple of hours in seeing its sights. A very 
fine organ in the cathedral was shown to them ; and in 
another church there was a miraculous picture in which 
the subject wept on proper occasions. They were 
much interested in the museum, where they saw speci- 
mens of the implements used by the aborigines, who 
had no knowledge of the use of iron. Knives were 
made of pieces of lava ; and horns were used for 
ploughs. The people embalmed the bodies of their 
dead after the manner of the Egyptians ; and mum- 
mies enclosed in goat-skin were on exhibition. 

About four the excursionists started on their return ; 
and all of them walked, for, if any were tired enough 
to ride, they were too proud to say so. When they 
had gone about half of the distance, the stage passed 
them ; but it immediately stopped, and Dona Maria 
and her father stepped out of it. 


274 


ISLES OF THE SEA ; OR, 


“ Maria insists upon walking with the young gentle- 
men,” said Don Roderigue apologetically. 

“ I am dead of that stage ! ” protested the maiden. 

She placed herself at the side of Scott, and walked 
along as briskly as any of the party. She wanted to 
talk English ; and she was very proud of the progress 
she had made since the students had first come to her 
father’s tyuinta. Of course there was no such thing as 
fatigue after the fair girl joined the party. The officers 
were inclined to rally Scott a good deal on account of 
his relations with the fair Portuguese : but he did not 
appear to be smitten ; and, as she did not understand 
English well enough to appreciate his humor, she was 
not the company he liked best. 

The next day another excursion was made into the 
country in another direction ; but it was about the same 
thing as before. The students wanted to make the 
ascent of the peak of Teneriffe ; but the undertaking 
was too difficult, if not too dangerous, for the principal 
to sanction it. On the third day after the arrival of the 
squadron, it sailed again for Las Palmas. A couple of 
days were spent there ; and the vessels proceeded to 
the north side of the island of Teneriffe, and anchored 
off the Puerto de Orotava. 

Dr. Winstock was very anxious that the students 
should visit this place. Dr. Phelps, the passenger in 
the Marian, declared that he should spend the win- 
ter there ; and he was of the opinion that he should 
bring a dozen patients with him, for, after he had 
carefully examined the situation, he was satisfied that it 
was superior to Faval, Madeira, Nassau, or any other 
place, as a health resort for persons with weak or dis- 
eased lungs. 


YOUNG .AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 275 

The doctor’s usual party walked out to the town, 
which is only a couple of miles inland ; and Dona 
Maria insisted upon accompanying them. 

“ This town is enclosed by mountains, as you see, from 
three to seven thousand feet high, on all sides except 
the seaward. It is sheltered from all the bad winds,” 
said Dr. Winstock. 

“ But this is April ; and we can’t tell how it feels in 
the winter,” suggested Dr. Phelps, who had joined his 
professional friend. 

“ But I have been here in the winter : the glass never 
falls below fifty, nor gets above eighty-two. It is the 
most uniform climate in the world,” replied Dr. Win- 
stock with enthusiasm. 

“ But you mention thirty-two degrees variation.” 

. “You have over a hundred variation in the Northern 
States. But I mentioned the rarest extremes. No av- 
erage for a month is below sixty-two, or above seventy- 
two. An invalid may sleep all the year round with his 
windows open ; and fires are never needed. ” 

The two physicians talked over this to them interesting 
subject ; and the students walked about the fields and 
the town. It was as near paradise as any thing on 
earth can be. 

After remaining at this place for a couple of days, 
the fleet went to Santa Cruz de Palma for a day, and 
then sailed for Funchal on the 29th of the month. 


2?6 


ISLES OF THE SEA j OR, 


CHAPTER XX. 

“A YANKEE SHIP AND A YANKEE CREW.” 

M R. FR1SBONE and his wife and Miss Rodwood 
were none the worse for the benevolent service 
they had rendered on board of the Castle William. 
The small-pox patients, as stated before, had been sepa- 
rated by the mate from the rest of the people in the 
forward part of the vessel. The sanitary measures 
devised by Mrs. Frisbone, and carried out by her hus- 
band, had wrought a wonderful change on board ; and, 
when the vessel arrived at Portsmouth, the condition 
of the sick had greatly improved. The quarantine reg- 
ulations were relaxed as much as possible in favor of 
the devoted nurses ; but the ladies, who had been more 
exposed than the Prince, were not permitted to leave 
the limits of the hospital for a few days. 

As soon as the Ville d’Angers anchored in the 
harbor of Portsmouth, Gregory sent a message by the 
steward, that he wished to see the captain. As soon as 
O’Hara had leisure to attend to the matter, he re- 
quested Shakings to bring his prisoners into the cabin, 
hoping they had repented of the folly which had in- 
duced them to “ stand out,” as they expressed it. The 
boatswain promptly produced the mutineers, and, touch- 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 


277 


ing his cap, was about to retire ; but O’Hara desired 
him to remain. 

Gregory appeared, looking more defiant, if possible, 
than when he was committed. For nearly a week he 
had been kept in his state-room. The captain had of- 
fered to allow him and Clinch to take an airing on the 
poop-deck every day for a couple of hours, under the 
eye of the boatswain, who was not to permit them to 
speak to any of the ship’s company ; but both of them 
indignantly declined the proposition, — they would not 
go on deck as prisoners. 

“ As I seem to be subject to your will and pleasure, 
O’Hara, I wish to say that you have carried this thing 
about far enough,” said the ex-first officer, when he 
came into the presence of the captain. 

“That’s just my idea,” added Clinch, turning up his 
nose to express his contempt for the young commander 
of the steamer. 

“ If you wish to see me in order to intimidate me, I 
have nothing to say,” replied the captain, with dignity ; 
but he was greatly disappointed at the tone and man- 
ner of the mutineers. 

“ I think we were clearly in the right in refusing to 
do duty when you were running away with the vessel,” 
continued Gregory. 

“ I do not care to argue the matter,” added O’Hara. 

“I want to know who is right.” 

“The principal will decide that in due time.” 

“ The principal is not here to decide any thing.” 

“We can only wait till we see him.” 

“ I don’t intend to wait ! ” said Gregory angrily. “ I 
shall go on shore.” 


278 


ISLES OF THE SEA ; OR, 


“At present the steamer is quarantined ; and no one 
is allowed to leave her,” answered O’Hara. 

“That’s another scrape you’ve got us into!” blus- 
tered the rebel. 

The captain made no reply to this taunt. 

“ There has been no show for the officers from the 
Josephine in this steamer,” continued Gregory. “ Mr. 
Shakings, I think you ought to see fair play, at least, 
when an officer of your own ship is treated in this way.” 

“ All the boatswain has to do is to obey the captain’s 
orders,” replied Shakings ; but he looked as though he 
had something else to say if the occasion should re- 
quire it. 

“ Come, Clinch, let’s go on shore,” said Gregory, 
beginning to move towards the door. 

“ Mr. Shakings, these officers are still in your keep- 
ing,” added the captain. 

“There is no going on shore for any one in this 
vessel,” interposed the stout forward officer, as he 
placed himself in front of the rebels. “You will re- 
turn to your rooms.” 

“ I won’t do it ! ” protested Gregory savagely, as he 
made a spring towards the door. 

“ I think you will, my beauty,” added the boatswain, 
as he collared the rebel, and dragged him to his room. 

Without any ceremony, he shoved him into the 
apartment, and locked the door upon him. Clinch had 
not the pluck to make a forcible resistance; and he 
went to his room without the assistance of Shakings. 

“ I don’t see that I can do any thing else with Greg- 
ory and Clinch,” said O’Hara, when the boatswain had 
secured his prisoners. 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 279 

“ I think you are using them very gently,” replied 
Shakings. “ Mr. Fluxion will keep them in the brig a 
month for this, and send them out of the cabin with the 
lowest numbers in the ship.” 

“ I only wish to keep them from leading any of the 
other officers or seamen away from their duty,” added 
O’Hara. 

“ There is not the least danger of that : every man 
from the Josephine will stand by you to the end.” 

As intimated in the newspaper the vice-principal had 
read at Funchal, Mr. Frisbone was negotiating with the 
owners of the Castle William for the settlement of the 
salvage ; but little progress was made till the discharge 
of the Prince from the quarantine, which was done at 
the end of a week. The vessel and cargo were ac- 
knowledged to be worth ten thousand pounds ; and the 
Prince accepted one-half of this sum. The owners of 
the Ville d’ Angers were more exacting, and declined 
to settle the claim. Proceedings had been instituted 
as soon as the vessel arrived ; and, a few days later, 
the court decreed that one-half of her value should be 
paid by the owners to the salvors. The vessel was to 
be sold at public vendue to determine her value ; and 
the shrewd agent of the owners was satisfied that a 
French craft, sold in an English port, would bring 
but a mere song. 

The Prince was discharged from quarantine in sea- 
son to attend the auction. The agent expected no 
competition in the bidding. His first bid was four 
thousand pounds ; then the Prince added another thou- 
sand, and continued to increase upon the agent till the 
sum of thirteen thousand pounds was reached ; and 


28 o 


ISLES OF THE SEA ; OR, 


then the first bidder had a cold sweat, for his instruc- 
tions allowed him to bid no more. The steamer was 
struck off to the Prince for “a thousand better.” 

The agent was confounded, and the Prince was in 
excellent humor. He had to pay only a half of the 
purchase-money, for the other half belonged to the 
salvors. But the agent had new instructions when it 
was too late ; and he offered the Prince another thou- 
sand, and then two and three, for his bargain, but the 
buyer declined to sell. 

“ What do you want of that steamer ? ” asked Mrs. 
Frisbone, when he told her what he had done. 

“ I think we will all go to Madeira in her,” replied 
Mr. Frisbone, laughing. “I have been bothered to 
know what to do with the ship’s company of the 
steamer; and this settles the question. Besides, the 
.vessel is worth more than I pay for her.” 

The Prince hastened on board of the Ville d’ Angers 
to inform the officers what he had done, and to have 
her prepared for the voyage to Funchal. Everybody 
on board was pleased with the result of the Prince’s 
operations, unless it was the prisoners in their state- 
rooms. 

The steamer was immediately hauled into the dock, 
her cargo taken out of her, for that had been sold “ on 
account of whom it might concern,” and the proceeds 
had added over eight hundred pounds to the result of 
the expedition to England. Then she ran up to 
Southampton, where she coaled and took in a supply 
of provisions on the most liberal scale. By the morn- 
ing of the 2 1 st, she was ready to sail ; and not a mo- 
ment was lost in getting under way. 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 28 1 

• 

The French and Italian firemen had been discharged, 
and sent home by the agent of the owners. Another 
set was employed for the voyage, and two young Eng- 
lish engineers were added to the force in the engine- 
room. In fact, the vessel was fitted out as if she were 
to go around the world. She had been ballasted so as 
to put her into the best sailing-trim when the coal in 
her bunkers should be reduced. 

The article in the newspaper had drawn considerable 
attention to the steamer ; and when she sailed there 
was quite a crowd to witness her departure. 

“Where are you bound, captain ?” asked a young 
man, as O’Hara was about to get into the boat which 
was waiting for him. 

“ To Funchal, in the island of Madeira,” replied the 
young captain, hardly looking at the inquirer ; for he 
had been tormented with questions ever since he put 
his foot on the shore. 

The person who asked the question was not more 
than twenty-two years of age, and was accompanied by 
another young man about his own age. Both of them 
were dressed in travelling suits of gray; and they 
appeared to belong to the better class of English 
people. 

“ I beg your pardon for troubling you, captain,” per- 
sisted the inquirer. 

“ If I can be of any service to you, I shall be happy ; 
but, upon my sowl, I am in a hurry,” replied O’Hara 
pleasantly. 

“It’s only a moment for another question. Could 
you by any possibility take a couple of passengers 
along with you ? ” 


282 


ISLES OF THE SEA ; OR, 

« 

“ The steamer is not a passenger-vessel,” answered 
the captain. 

“ I am well aware of that ; but it would be a great 
accommodation to us; for you see we lost the last 
steamer to Funchal by a delay caused by a railway 
accident.” 

“ I do not feel at liberty to take passengers ; and I 
shall be obliged to refer you to the agent of the princi- 
pal, Mr. Frisbone,” added O'Hara. 

“ This gentleman is Sir Philip Grayner, baronet,” 
said the young man with the applicant for a passage. 

O’Hara thought he was rather young to be a baro- 
net, but it was possible to succeed to the title at an 
early age. But he was not particularly impressed by 
the fact. The information had been imparted to him 
as though it was confidential, and he made no use of it. 

“Where can I find Mr. Frisbone?” asked the baro- 
net, renewing the attack. 

“ He is on board of the steamer.” 

“ And how soon do you sail ? ” 

“In the course of an hour.” 

“Thank you, captain,” replied Sir Philip Grayner. 
“The gentleman with me is Lord Fillgrove,” he added 
in a low tone. 

“ Another sprig of nobility,” thought O’Hara, as he 
descended to the boat. 

The well-trained crew gave way at the order of the 
coxswain, and the cutter was soon alongside of the Ville 
d’ Angers. The vessel was only waiting for the pilot ; 
but the time fixed for him to be on board had not 
yet arrived. The cutter was hoisted up at the davits, 
and secured for the voyage. The other cutter had 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 283 

not yet returned from the shore, where she had gone 
with a party of the students who had liberty to visit 
the city. Leave had been freely granted ; and in no 
case had it been abused, so far as the officers were 
aware. If any of the young men had drank beer, 
or other dangerous fluids, their condition when they 
returned did not indicate such indulgence. 

About half an hour after the return of the captain, 
a boat containing the two applicants' for passage to 
Funchal, with their bags and luggage, came alongside. 
The bringing of their baggage implied that they had a 
strong expectation of obtaining what they desired. They 
were permitted to come on board, and presented their 
application to the Prince. 

“ We are entirely willing to pay our passage,” said 
the baronet. 

“ By all means, we shall do that,” added the one with 
the lordly title. 

“ That is no particular object with us,” replied the 
Prince. “ We should not take you for the money you 
may pay.” 

“ We will at least pay for our diet and the wines we 
drink,” said Sir Philip. 

“We don’t sell rum on this steamer,” replied Mr. 
Frisbone, very decidedly. “ If you can’t get along 
without wine, I think you had better take passage in 
some other vessel. We don’t furnish any thing to drink 
for anybody ; and, what’s more, we don’t allow any wine 
or liquor to be used about the steamer.” 

“That’s a matter of no consequence,” added Sir 
Philip, looking at his companion, and giving him a sly 
wink when he was sure he was not observed. 


284 


ISLES OF THE SEA ; OR, 


“ We don’t care if we never have any thing in the 
shape of wine or liquor,” the young lord agreed. 

“ What’s your name ?” asked the Prince bluntly of 
the first speaker. 

“ This gentleman is Sir Philip Grayner,” said his 
lordship. 

“ And my friend is Lord Fillgrove,” added the baronet. 

“ Then you are dooks and lords,” continued Mr. 
Frisbone ; but he seemed to be pleased at the idea of 
meeting them. 

“ My friend is a viscount,” replied Sir Philip. 

“ And mine is a baronet,” said Lord Fillgrove. 

“All right!” exclaimed Mr. Frisbone, in his usual 
loud tone. “ I am an American Prince myself.” 

The Prince talked with Capt. O’Hara and with 
Capt. Fairfield about the matter; and it was agreed 
that the passengers would be a pleasant addition to the 
ship’s company. There were some spare state-rooms ; 
for the space between decks, called the “ second cabin,” 
had been fitted up for the crew, and it was a very light 
and airy place for them. They preferred it to the main 
cabin ; and it was more conducive to good discipline to 
have the officers farther removed from the seamen. 

Each of the passengers took his choice of the state- 
rooms not in use. The Prince introduced them to his 
wife and her sister under their full titles. 

“ This is a very unexpected pleasure, Prince Fris- 
bone,” said Sir Philip. “ I was not aware that we were 
to have the pleasure of ladies’ society on the voyage.” 

“ Prince Frisbone ! ” exclaimed the worthy machinist, 
laughing heartily. “ That sounds odd.” 

“ I beg your pardon ; but I think you told me you 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 285 

were an American Prince ; and, as you did not dispute 
my title, I am not disposed to deny your claim,” an- 
swered Sir Philip. 

“ I suppose your title is a little more regular than 
mine ; but we won’t quarrel about these trifles,” added 
the Prince. “ This is now a ‘Yankee ship and a Yan- 
kee crew ;’ and I have an idea that one man is as good 
aj another on board of her.” 

“No doubt of it ; but I perceive that there is a great 
deference between the officers and the seamen,” sug- 
gested Lord Fillgrove. 

“ Not a bit of difference. No. 24 is just as good as 
the captain,” protested the American nobleman. 

“ But one commands, and the other obeys.” 

“ That’s true ; but we don’t have any classes of citi- 
zens. The day-laborer on town-meeting day is the equal 
of the man worth a million that hires him ; and any 
fellow before the mast in this vessel may be captain of 
her the very next month. Here is Capt. O’Hara : when 
he was at this port last, he was a seaman ; and next 
month he may be a seaman again.” 

“ I hope not,” said O’Hara, laughing. “ But I heard 
that the principal and the faculty were getting up a new 
way to fill the offices on board of the vessels of the 
squadron ; and some of us may slip up when it is ap- 
plied.” 

“ It’s all very democratic,” added Lord Fillgrove. 

The coming of the pilot put an end to the conversa- 
tion, though the two young “sprigs of nobility” made 
themselves as agreeable as possible to the ladies, whom 
they escorted to the hurricane-deck so as to afford them 
an opportunity to observe the scenery of “ Southamp- 


286 


ISLES OF THE SEA ; OR, 


ton Water ” and “ The Solent,” as the steamer went to 
sea. 

The anchor had been heaved up to a short stay ; and, 
as soon as the pilot was on the deck, the order was 
given to man the capstan again. The young tars were 
wide awake, and the pilot said he had never seen a 
steamer better handled than the Ville d’ Angers was on 
this occasion. 

In a couple of hours the steamer was off the Nee- 
dles, and the pilot was discharged. Capt. O’Hara was 
his own navigator, though Tom Speers and first officer 
Lawring also worked up the problems, and drew off the 
courses from the chart, to verify the captain’s work. 
The first course was from the Needles, the point of 
“departure,” to Ushant. The weather was delightful, 
and all on board were happy except the two malecon- 
tents in their state-rooms. The extra engineers were 
intelligent and agreeable men, and the firemen were a 
great improvement upon the French and Italian ones. 

Gregory and Clinch had several times been offered 
the liberty of the deck, under the charge t>f the boat- 
swain; and the offer had been declined. But the 
captain and the instructor did not consider it prudent 
to allow them to hold any communication with the offi- 
cers and seamen of the vessel, for Gregory was still 
in a mood to foment a mutiny. 

The steward who carried their meals to the prisoners 
gave them the current news of the day, so far as he 
obtained it himself ; and they were tolerably well post- 
ed. After the sale of the steamer to the Prince, the 
aspect of the case began to change, as the mutineers 
viewed it. They had expected that the Ville d’An 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 287 

gers would be given up to the owners, and the ship’s 
company sent to Madeira in a passenger - steamer. 
That had been the talk before the mutiny. Gregory 
was confident that the change from the vessel to the 
packet would afford them an opportunity to escape 
from the rule of Capt. O’Hara and the instructor. 

The ex-first officer was the son of a rich man, an 
Englishman who had been naturalized in New York. 
He had a letter of credit for a large amount, and he 
was fully determined not to return to the squadron. 
This hope faded away when the steward told him the 
steamer had been purchased by the Prince, and would 
sail for Madeira as soon as possible. He was appalled 
at the idea. He was sure Mr. Fluxion would degrade 
him to the lowest number in the Josephine; and he 
was too proud and haughty to tolerate for an instant 
the thought of such a humiliation. 

He wanted to consult with Clinch about the present 
situation. He knew that the state-room of his fellow- 
conspirator was next to his own ; but he dared not 
attempt to converse with' him through the partition, 
lest they should be heard by the officers in the cabin, 
and another room be assigned to one of them. When 
the steamer began to move, he listened attentively at 
the door; but no sound came from that direction. 
The bull’s-eye in his room was open, and he could 
hear voices on the deck above him. 

He knocked on the partition to attract the attention 
of Clinch ; and he had often done so before, though 
the conspirators had been unable to make each other 
understand more than a few words. His companion 
in misery promptly replied to his call. 


288 


ISLES OF THE SEA j OR, 


“ Make a hole in the partition,” said he ; and he 
rapped several times to indicate the place for it. 

“ All right,” replied Clinch. 

But they had to repeat what they said several times 
before they could be understood. Gregory had given 
his present plan careful consideration. He had se- 
lected a spot behind the dressing-case that was fast- 
ened to the bulkhead. With his pocket-knife he had 
removed the screws from the case, and arranged it so 
that he could restore it at an instant’s notice. 

Clinch’s dressing-case was on the other side of the 
partition, and the aperture to be made could be con- 
cealed on Clinch’s side in the same manner as on his 
own. As soon as the case was removed, he went to 
work with his knife. The partition was a double one, 
composed of boards extending diagonally, but from 
opposite angles in the two rooms. 

After half an hour’s diligent work he had cut a hole 
half an inch in diameter through one thickness of the 
partition. He had spread a towel under the place 
where he was working, to receive the chips, so that they 
should not betray him. It was not so easy to cut 
through the second board ; it could be better _done by 
Clinch on the other side. Taking one of the gimlet- 
screws he had removed from the dressing-case, he 
turned it with his knife till he had passed it through 
the second board. He then unscrewed it, and en- 
larged the hole with a small blade of his knife, till it 
would admit the lead pencil he carried in his pocket. 

The dressing-case consisted of a looking-glass, un- 
der which was a rack for bottles and glasses, and a 
couple of small drawers. He had made the hole 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 


where the back of one of these drawers had been. 
With the lead pencil, he pushed the drawer in Clinch’s 
room out as far as the length of the implement used 
would permit. His fellow-conspirator observed the 
movement of the drawer, and removed it from the case. 
He saw the hole, and fully comprehended the plan of 
his friend. 

“ Take out the screws from the dressing-case,” said 
Gregory, with his mouth at the aperture. 

Clinch complied with the request without making 
any reply ; for he was afraid he should be heard, and 
the plan spoiled before it was carried out. 

“ All right,” said he, when he could get his mouth 
close to the hole. 

“ Cut out the hole till it is as large as on this side. 
Put your towel down so as to save the chips,” replied 
Gregory, in a low tone. 

Clinch went to work, and in a short time he had 
made the aperture of the same size all the way through. 
But half an inch was rather small, and they enlarged it 
to an inch, which would enable them to talk with less 
danger of being heard. The dressing-cases were then 
restored to their former positions. Gregory had im- 
proved upon his plan as the work proceeded ; and it 
was necessary to remove only the drawers on each side 
when they wished to talk together. Each could call 
the attention of the other by shoving out the drawer. 
If any one came to the door of either state-room while 
the contrivance was in use, it could be concealed by 
restoring the drawer. 

“How are you now ? ” asked Gregory, when the 
cases had been replaced. 


290 ISLES OF THE SEA ; OR, 

“ All right ! this is a first-class arrangement,” replied 
Clinch. 

“ Put your mouth close-up to the case, and speak very 
low,” added Gregory, who was as much pleased with 
his invention as though it had been a useful ma- 
chine. 

“ I will,” answered Clinch in a whisper. “ Can you 
hear me ? ” 

“ Very distinctly. The steamer is in still water now ; 
and we may have to speak louder when she gets to 
sea.” 

“ I heard some strange voices in the cabin before the 
steamer sailed. Do you know who they are ? ” asked 
Clinch. 

“ I don’t. I have not heard them since the screw 
began to turn,” answered Gregory. “ I believe I have 
heard one of the voices before ; but I can’t think whose 
it is now.” 

“ It may be some friend of yours. Your folks are 
English.” 

“But they all live in Lancashire; and none of them 
are likely to be in this part of England.” 

“We can find out who they are when the steward 
brings our dinner,” added Clinch. 

“ I don’t suppose it makes much difference to us who 
the strangers are. Things look black enough on this 
side of the house,” said Gregory, in a rather despond- 
ing tone. 

“ So they do on this side,” replied Clinch. “ We can 
be a little more sociable than we have been ; and that’s 
all.” 

“ I don’t give it up yet.” 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 


291 


“ Give what up ? ” 

“Getting out of this scrape.” 

“ I don’t see any way out of it.” 

A footstep in the cabin caused them both to insert 
the drawers, and close the conversation. 


2Q2 


ISLES OF THE SEA ; OR, 


CHAPTER XXI. 

THE SPRIGS OF NOBILITY. 

E VERY thing went well with the vessel and her 
management. The officers and seamen were faith- 
ful and attentive to their duty, so far as those in charge 
could discover. The weather was all that could be 
desired ; and the Ville d’ Angers logged from twelve 
to fifteen knots an hour. The quarter-watches were 
amply sufficient for the duty of the ship, and the four 
engineers made it easy work for Alexander and Rich- 
ards. 

The Prince had superintended the provisioning of 
the steamer, and he had done it in the most lavish 
manner. The fare was better than that furnished on 
the vessels of the squadron, good as that was ; and the 
students could not help speaking of the fact. 

“ We fare better than I ever did at the best hotels 
in Europe,” said O’Hara, when they were seated at 
dinner. 

“You deserve good feed,” said the Prince, laughing. 
“This has been a big expedition we undertook. I was 
figuring it up before we sailed ; and I found we had 
made twenty-eight hundred pounds, besides the value of 
the Dangers.” 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 


293 


“ Besides what ? ” demanded Mrs. Frisbone. 

“The Dangers. Don’t you know the name of the 
steamer you sail in, the Yankee ship with the Yankee 
crew ? ” answered the Prince, who pronounced French 
as it was written, in spite of the frequent admonitions 
of his educated wife. 

“ The Ville d’Angers,” added the lady, pronouncing 
correctly the name of the steamer. 

“ I should have to have my tongue split like a crow, 
before I could say that ; and I don’t mean to try. The 
Dangers suits me better,” retorted the Prince good- 
naturedly. “ We were in a good many dangers while we 
were in her at first ; and that’s the best name in the 
world for her. I was saying I had twenty-eight hundred 
pounds, besides the Dangers, all made out of this cruise 
to the nor’ard ; and, as the young gentlemen have 
done all the work, I was determined that they should 
live like fighting-cocks while I had any thing to do 
with them.” 

“Thank you, Mr. Frisbone,” added O’Hara. “I 
think we are all in condition to appreciate good living. 
What are you going to do with this steamer after you 
have returned us all to the vessels of the squadron ? ” 

“ That will be for the principal to say. The steamer 
belongs to him, and not to me ; ■ for it was one of his 
squadron that picked her up,” replied the Prince. “ I 
think he had better use her as one of the vessels of his 
fleet, and sell out his sailing-vessels. It won’t be 
many years before sails, except with steam, will go out 
of fashion.” 

“ She will accommodate as many as the two schoon- 
ers, after she has been fitted up for the purpose,” con- 


294 


ISLES OF THE SEA ; OR, 


tinued the captain. “ She is nearly as fast as the 
Prince ; and, if we had been in her when we left Gib- 
raltar, we should have sailed with her.” 

“Upon my word, I should have liked to be a student 
In such a vessel when I was a youngster,” said Sir 
Philip Grayner, who sat at the table about opposite the 
state-room of Gregory. 

“You are not much more than a youngster now,” 
added the Prince, laughing at the cool way of the 
baronet. 

“ I am two and twenty,” replied Sir Philip. 

“ Then you are not much more than a year older 
than Mr. Speers, the second officer ; and he is a mil- 
lionnaire at that.” 

“ A millionnaire ! ” exclaimed the baronet. 

“ Please not mention that, Mr. Frisbone,” interposed 
Tom, blushing. 

“It isn’t your fault, my boy ; and I don’t blame you 
for it,” added the Prince. “ He is more than that, Sir 
Philip : he is a three-millionnaire.” 

Tom’s secret had come out in spite of the vigilance 
with which he had guarded it. The sprigs of nobility 
made themselves very intimate with him ; and all the 
students wanted to know about it, for most of them 
could recollect how careful he was of the small store 
of money he possessed. 

“ A millionnaire, is he ? ” said Gregory, in the state- 
room, for the open-work above the door enabled him 
to hear every word that was said in that part of the 
cabin. “ And he is a great crony with O’Hara.” 

“ I should like to get in with such a fellow,” replied 
Clinch. “ But what are we going to do with ourselves ? 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 295 

I have had about enough of this life in a state- 
room.” 

“ So have I, to be entirely candid,” added Gregory. 
“ The fellows are having a magnificent time, and we 
are here under lock and key.” 

“ Are you going to back down ? ” 

“ There are two kinds of back-downs ; and it makes 
some difference which one you mean. I am not going 
to kiss O’Hara’s great toe, or any thing of that sort ; 
but I am willing to come down a little for the sake of 
getting out of this scrape.” 

“ All right. Tell the steward that we want to see 
the captain ; and you needn’t be so unutterably grand 
as you were the last time you saw him,” replied Clinch. 

“ I meant to treat him with proper contempt ; and, 
if I ever get hold of him, I shall be even with him in 
some way,” blustered Gregory. 

“ That’s all gas ! ” exclaimed Clinch, who was rather 
disgusted with the lofty ways of his companion in 
rebellion. “ What’s the use of talking in that way ? 
O’Hara has the weather-gauge of you, and you can’t do 
any thing.” 

“ I know I can’t now, while he has Shakings to fight 
his battles for him,” growled Gregory. 

“ He does just as the principal and the vice-princi- 
pals do : they never touch a fellow with their own 
hands ; they called on the boatswains.” 

“ If the boatswain had been out of the way, I would 
have made an end of O’Hara’s reign. I am sure I 
could have got about all the fellows from the Josephine 
to join our party.” 

“ So much the bigger fool you, for standing out before 


296 


ISLES OF THE SEA ; OR, 


you had said any thing to the fellows. Even Stokes 
backed square down when it came to the scratch.” 

“ I was feeling very badly when I did it. That Bur- 
gundy did not agree with me ; it made me as cross 
and sour as a baby at midnight. I did not intend to 
do any thing till the moment came when I did it.” 

“ It is no use of grumbling about what is past and 
gone. We are in the scrape ; and the question is, how 
shall we get out of it ? ” said Clinch, somewhat soft- 
ened by the confession of his friend. 

Gregory told how he intended to manage the matter 
when the steamer was given up ; but this plan had 
been spoiled by the purchase of the vessel. The one 
thing he dreaded was being returned to the Joseph- 
ine. He was conscious that he had been guilty of 
gross disobedience and insubordination. He had no 
confidence whatever in the excuse he had -offered, that 
O’Hara was running away with the steamer, ar.d disre- 
garding the instructions of the senior vice-principal. 
This plea was only an excuse for rebelling against the 
authority of the captain ; and he was sure it would not 
be accepted by Mr. Fluxion. The voyage to England 
had been a decided success ; and the enterprise had 
been fully indorsed by all the adults on board. 

It was the feeling that he had been snubbed by 
O’Hara, that the captain had not “ made enough ” of 
him, which had excited his wrath. He had come on 
board of the Ville d ’Angers with the expectation that 
the voyage was to be a sort of pleasure-excursion ; and 
the recitations and the quarter-watches, which practi- 
cally transferred the work and the discipline of the 
squadron to the steamer, were exceedingly distasteful to 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 297 

him. But the Burgundy was responsible for his mutin- 
ous conduct ; and without that he might have got 
along with the minor difficulty in his path. 

He could not tolerate the idea of returning to the 
Josephine, and taking the penalty of his misconduct. 
He was ready to resort to the most desperate expedi- 
ent to avoid the merited punishment. Since the sale 
of the vessel, he had been cudgelling his brain to 
devise the plan. He had hoped to become the cap- 
.tain of the Josephine in due time ; but now he had 
given up the idea : the Burgundy had robbed him of 
all his expectations in connection with the academy 
squadron. He must get away, and keep away from it. 

Clinch listened to all this long story, and confessed 
that he was in the same boat as his companion. But 
his father was not a rich man ; and he could not cruise 
all over the world, for the want of the means. But 
Gregory declared that he had money enough to take 
them both around the world ; and, as long as his friend 
would stick by him, he should want for nothing. 
Whatever they did, they were to stick together. 

At supper-time Gregory, who did all the planning 
and scheming, had not settled upon any course of 
action. The officers of one watch and the passengers 
were at the table in the cabin. The prisoners, whose 
time hung heavily on their hands, listened attentively 
at the doors of their rooms to the conversation. Greg- 
ory heard the voice which he believed he had heard 
before, as he told Clinch. It sounded even more famil- 
iar than at dinner. 

“You are going off on your travels, I suppose,” said 
the Prince. 


298 


ISLES OF THE SEA ; OR, 


“ No, sir : I am going to Funchal on a bit of a lark,” 
replied the person with the well-known voice. “ I have 
long wanted to go there ; but I could not get away from 
the university till this spring. I am through with 
schools for the rest of my lifetime ; and now I am go- 
ing to enjoy myself, if I can.” 

“ Are you going to stop long in Madeira, Sir Philip ? ” 
asked the Prince. 

“ Sir Philip ! ” exclaimed Gregory to himself ; and 
this was the first time he had heard the name of either 
of the passengers. 

“ Only till I get tired of the island. It may be a 
week, or a month,” added the baronet. 

“Where are you going then ? ” inquired the Prince. 

“ I haven’t the least idea. I am opposed to laying 
out a pleasure-excursion in advance.” 

“We shall go wherever it suits our fancy to go when 
we have done the island,” added Lord Fillgrove. 

“Lord Fillgrove and I are perfectly agreed on this 
trip,” said Sir Philip. “ We were in the university to- 
gether, and we have considered the matter for years.” 

“ Lord Fillgrove ! ” exclaimed Gregory, as he heard 
the name of the other passenger. 

He listened to the conversation till the close of sup- 
per ; and, after the steward had given him his evening 
meal, he opened communication with his fellow-pris- 
oner. 

“Did you hear the names of the two passengers, 
Clinch ? ” he asked, when his friend had placed his ear 
at the opening in the partition. 

“ I did : one is a lord, and the other is a sir,” replied 
Clinch. 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 299 

“ Sir Philip Grayner is my cousin ; and I had the 
biggest lark with him I ever had in my life. It was 
before I joined the squadron, when I went over to 
England with my father on a visit.” 

“ Who’s the other fellow ? ” 

“ He is a friend of my cousin ; and I met him in Lan- 
caster when I was there. He is the eldest son of an 
earl ; and I believe they call him a viscount. He is 
addressed as Lord Fillgrove.” 

“ Do they know you are on board ? ” asked Clinch, 
much interested in the information conveyed to him. 

“ I don’t know : I don’t suppose they do. But we 
must get out of this place as soon as we can ; and I 
know my cousin will help us all he can.” 

“It is easy enough to say, get out ; but how will you 
do it ? ” 

“We must back down, — come clear down,” replied 
Gregory earnestly. 

“ That don’t sound like you, Dave,” added Clinch. 

“ Of course you know what I mean,” continued the 
chief mutineer, apparently annoyed at the remark of 
his friend. “ We are not going to become chaplain’s 
lambs, or any thing of that sort.” 

“ But you must go down on your knees to Capt. 
O’Hara, the mighty one, who is the supreme authority 
on board of the Ville d’Angers,” answered Clinch, 
in a contemptuous tone. 

“ I will even do that, if it is necessary,” added Greg- 
ory. 

“ I won’t ! ” exclaimed Clinch. 

“ Don’t be a fool ! we must get out of these state- 
rooms ; and that’s the only way to do it. But I don’t 


3 °° 


ISLES OF THE SEA ; OR, 


think O’Hara will be very hard on us. Of course he 
won’t attempt to punish us. He has offered us the 
freedom of the deck under the eye of the boatswain ; 
and we must accept that, if we can’t get any thing bet- 
ter. I want to be where I can have a talk with my 
cousin. I don’t expect O’Hara will restore us to our 
positions as first and third officers, for those places are 
now filled by fellows from the Josephine. All I want 
is to get out of this state-room : don’t you see ? ” 

“ I see ; but I don’t want to go down on my knees to 
a fellow from the Tritonia. I will do any thing you 
say ; and I can stand it if you can.” 

“ I can stand it well enough when the thing is done 
for a purpose,” replied Gregory very cheerfully. “ I 
will do the talking when we are before the mighty 
Capt. O’Hara. Leave it to me.” 

Clinch was entirely willing to leave it to his friend. 

“ I have been figuring things up a little since the 
steamer sailed,” continued Gregory. “ What day of the 
month is this, Clinch?” 

“The 2 1 st: I heard one of the fellows at the table 
say so at dinner,” replied Clinch. 

“Good! then we shall not get to Funchal till the 
26th or 27th. At that time the squadron will have 
been out over a fortnight, nearly three weeks. I have 
no idea that Mr. Lowington will stay in Funchal so 
long,” argued Gregory. “ He will start the fleet for 
the Western Islands, or wherever he is going next, and 
leave orders there for the absentees to follow him.” 

“ That may be ; and you think he will be gone when 
we get there ? ” mused Clinch. 

“ I am almost sure of it. He will get news by the 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 30! 

regular steamer from the Ville d’Angers ; and he won’t 
wait for her. When we reach Madeira, we must get 
away from the vessel. I am sure my cousin will help 
us out ; and we will join them on their trip.” 

This was entirely satisfactory to Clinch ; and, as soon 
as he saw the bearing of the “back-down,” he was 
willing even to kiss O’Hara’s toe in order to forward 
the plan. 

Gregory was an inventive genius ; and, before the 
first half of the last dog-watch had expired, he had 
improved upon his plan, and decided to put it in opera- 
tion at once. He was so impatient that he was not 
willing to wait till the next day. He did not feel quite 
as well as usual ; and he really wished he was a little 
sicker than he was. This suggested a way to get at 
the captain at once. He could easily make himself a 
little sicker than he was. He had formerly been sub- 
ject to a certain kind of headache ; and he carried in 
his bag a medicine the family physician had given 
him before he left home. It always produced nausea 
to a considerable degree. He took a dose of it ; and 
in a short time he was sick in real earnest. Possibly 
his confinement in his room had made him more sus- 
ceptible to nausea. 

He knocked loudly on his door ; and, when the 
steward came to inquire what he wanted, he stated that 
he was sick, and desired to go on deck. The captain 
was consulted, and the order was promptly given for 
Shakings to conduct him to the deck. The acting 
head steward offered his services, and he received 
every attention his case required. When Mrs. Frisbone 
heard that he was ill, she went to him. 


302 


ISLES OF THE SEA ; OR, 


“ I have been feeling badly for some time ; and I 
took some medicine which our family doctor gave me,” 
said the sufferer. 

“ I think it is quite enough to make one sick, to be 
shut up in that state-room as you have been, Mr. 
Gregory,” replied the lady, when she had examined 
into the condition of the invalid. 

“ I am generally very well, and I have not had occa- 
sion to take any of this medicine for a long time,” 
added Gregory. 

Mrs. Frisbone spoke to the captain about the case, 
and expressed her opinion in regard to it. 

“I have several times offered to let him go on deck 
for an hour or two, and he has refused to do so,” re- 
plied O’Hara. 

“ Certainly it was his own fault that he has not had 
any more air and exercise,” added the lady. 

“ I am willing to go still farther,” continued O’Hara, 
who did not wish to injure the health of any student, 
however guilty he might be. “ I will see him in the 
morning, and will endeavor to give both Gregory and 
Clinch more liberty than they have had, and without 
the assistance of the boatswain, for they refused the 
offer because Shakings was to have charge of them.” 

The patient was permitted to stay on deck as long 
as he pleased ; but he did not see Sir Philip Grayner, 
who was playing whist in the cabin with the Prince and 
the ladies. When he went to his room, and was locked 
in as usual, he told Clinch what he had been about. 

At eight bells the next morning, O’Hara sent for the 
two prisoners, and they were brought into the cabin by 
the boatswain. Both of the “ sprigs ” were there ; and 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 


303 


Sir Philip looked him fairly in the eye, but made no 
sign whatever that he knew him, or had ever seen him. 
Gregory thought it very strange that his cousin did not 
recognize him, especially when Capt. O’Hara called 
him by name. 

“ I hope you are better this morning, Mr. Gregory,” 
said O’Hara ; and he expected a rude, if not an insult- 
ing reply. 

“ I am much better, I thank you, Capt. O’Hara,” 
answered the prisoner. “ I wish to say that I am sick, 
and I can’t stand it to be locked up in that room, now 
that the port has to be closed.” 

Gregory spoke in a respectful tone ; and O’Hara 
could not but notice the change in his manner. 

“I am very sorry that it became necessary to confine 
you to your room ; but I have tried to have you take 
air and exercise,” added O’Hara. “ I understand you 
to object to the attendance of Mr. Shakings.” 

“ I did object ; but I do not now. I am willing to 
do any thing you deem proper, and to confess ” — 

“ I shall not try your case, Mr. Gregory ; and it is 
quite unnecessary for you to make any acknowledg- 
ments to me,” interposed the captain. “ I have a prop- 
osition to make to you and Mr. Clinch, which I hope 
will not be considered humiliating. Both of you shall 
have the liberty of the vessel, provided you will promise 
not to speak to any officer or seaman of the steamer.” 

“It is a very liberal offer; and I am much obliged 
to you for it, captain. I thankfully accept the proposi- 
tion, and promise not to speak to any officer or sea- 
man of the vessel,” replied Gregory. 

“ I will do the same,” added Clinch. 


3°4 


ISLES OF THE SEA ; OR, 


“ I will modify the condition so far as to provide that 
you hold no private conversation with the officers and 
seamen. I do not wish to prevent you from speaking 
on the ordinary topics of the day. You will take your 
meals with the officers in the cabin ; and you are free 
to talk as much as you please at the table.” 

“ Thank you, captain,” replied Gregory meekly. 

“ Sir Philip, this is Mr. Gregory,” said the captain, 
as the young baronet was about to pass them. 

“ Mr. Gregory, I am happy to make your acquaint- 
ance,” replied Sir Philip with no sign of recognition ; 
and the baronet passed out of the cabin. 

Gregory was utterly confounded at the conduct of 
his cousin. The captain soon after presented Lord 
Fillgrove, whom the ex first officer had met not more 
than two years before ; but he was as innocent of all 
knowledge of him as his cousin had been. Neither of 
them seemed to be inclined to cultivate his acquaint- 
ance, perhaps because he was under a cloud just then. 
After breakfast Gregory went on deck, where he met 
the “ sprigs ” again. 

“You don’t know me, do you, Phil?” demanded 
Gregory, with considerable indignation in his tones. 

“ Of course I know you, Dave,” replied Sir Philip 
coldly, as he looked about him to ascertain what 
officers were in sight. But none were on the poop- 
deck ; for all of them not on duty were attending to 
their studies. 

“You seem to be as stiff as though you were not 
glad to see me,” added Gregory. 

“ I came on board of this ship on purpose to get you 
out of this scrape, and I will do it yet ; but we had 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 


305 


better seem not to know each other very well,” replied 
Sir Philip, gazing at the blue sky above him. “Wait 
till we get to Funchal. I want you to go with Fill- 
grove and me on an excursion of a year or two.” 

“ All right, Phil. I thought by your actions that you 
intended to cut me,” added Gregory, seeing the wisdom 
of his cousin’s precaution. “ I want to get out of the 
academy squadron.” 

“You shall ; and we will have a bigger lark than we 
did when you were in England before.” 

“ That was a large time,” said Gregory, recalling with 
pleasure the “spree,” for that was what it was. 

“ I met a fellow by the name of Stokes in Southamp- 
ton, who belonged to the ship ; and I asked him about 
you. He told me you were kept a prisoner in your 
state-room because you wouldn’t kiss the captain’s great 
toe ; and I am here to attend to your case,” continued 
the baronet, still looking at the sky. “ But let us be 
any thing but friends.” 

Gregory assented ; but during the rest of the voyage 
he had some long talks with him. In four days more, 
the Ville d’Angers arrived at Funchal, — on the morn- 
ing of the 27th ; but the fleet was not there. 


3°6 


ISLES OF THE SEA ; OR, 


CHAPTER XXII. 

WHAT THE STUDENTS SAW IN THE AZORES. 

O N the last day of the month, the academy squad- 
ron sailed into the harbor of Funchal, arriving 
from the Canaries in advance of the mail-steamer which 
sailed from Southampton six days before. The vessels 
anchored off the Loo Rock ; for it was intended by the 
principal to remain only long enough to take on board 
the ship’s company of the Ville d’ Angers, when the 
mail-steamer came in. 

She did not appear till afternoon ; and no one went 
on shore till that time, not even Don Roderigue, his 
wife and daughter; for they had been so hospitably 
entertained, that they were disposed to prolong their 
stay on board of the Marian as long as possible. The 
family were even considering an invitation of Judge 
Rodwood to visit the Western Islands in the steam- 
yacht. At two o’clock, when the mail-steamer came 
into the harbor, Mr. Fluxion and Mr. Pelham, each in 
the first cutter of the vessel under his charge, went to 
the packet, to receive his portion of the Ville d’Angers’ 
ship’s company. 

The two vice-principals went on board of the steamer 
as soon as it was allowable to do so. Great was their 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 


3°7 


astonishment when the purser informed them that no 
such passengers as those they described were on board 
of the packet. 

“ They went to Portsmouth in the steamer Vill£ 
d’Angers, towing the wreck of the Castle William,” 
added Mr. Fluxion. 

“ Oh, yes ! I know all about them ! ” exclaimed the 
purser. “ They picked up the steamer ; and she was 
sold to settle the salvage. The odd gentleman they 
called a prince bought her; and the ship’s company 
which brought her there sailed in her for Funchal on 
the 2 1 st of the month, three days ahead of this packet.” 

Mr. Pelham was sent to the American Prince to re- 
port this news, while Mr. Fluxion hastened up to the 
city to see the agent of the principal, who was his 
banker. This gentleman informed the vice-principal 
that Capt. O’Hara had visited his office three days 
before ; and, when the banker told him the fleet had 
gone to the Canary Islands, he had departed, leaving 
no intimation of his intentions. On inquiry later in 
the day, he learned that the Ville d’Angers had sailed 
for Santa Cruz, Teneriffe. Mr. Fluxion hastened to the 
principal with this intelligence. Mr. Lowington was 
confounded by it. 

“ Then they are still roaming over the ocean in that 
steamer,” said he. “ I have no agent or banker in 
Santa Cruz ; and I left no word there as to the destina- 
tion of the squadron. O’Hara will not be able to ob- 
tain any information as to where we are, or are to be.” 

“ I don’t see that any harm can come to them : they 
are in a good vessel, and have proved, by their voyage 
to England and back, that they know how to handle it,’ f 


3°8 


ISLES OF THE SEA • OR, 


said Mr. Fluxion, laughing. “ I suppose Mr. Frisbone 
is still with them ; at any rate, Capt. Fairfield is ; and 
they are attending to their studies, the same as they 
would if they were on board of the schooners.” 

After thinking the matter over, Mr. Lowington was 
reconciled to the situation. The Ville d’Angers had 
been gone three days and a half from Madeira. It was 
time for her to return, even if she followed the fleet to 
Palma, which had been the last island the squadron 
had visited. The students were allowed to go on shore 
in the afternoon, and escort Don Roderigue and his 
family to their home. A feast was provided for them 
in the evening, and Dona Maria was as fascinating as 
ever. But in the evening they bade the family adieu, 
not expecting to see them again, for they had decided 
not to go to the Azores in the Marian. 

At noon on the following day, as. the Ville d’Angers 
did not appear, the squadron was ordered to sail at 
once for the Western Islands. The principal left 
orders with his banker for the steamer to follow him 
if she put into Madeira again. It was the first day of 
the month, and the offices were distributed on board 
of the Prince ; but, as one-third of the ship’s company of 
the other vessels were absent, the award of positions was 
assigned to an early day after the arrival of the Ville 
d’Angers’ people. 

“But what shall I do?” asked Judge Rodwood, 
when the principal had issued the order to sail at once. 

“ You can do as you think best, judge,” answered 
Mr. Lowington. “ If you run over to the Canaries 
again, you may possibly find this truant steamer.” 

“ As we have just come from there, I don’t care to 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 309 

go again,” replied the judge. “ I think I shall follow 
you ; for I am sure the truants will find you in the end. 
I am out for a cruise ; and I intended to visit all these 
islands on my way home.” 

The Marian followed the squadron ; and, after a 
comfortable run of four days, the fleet anchored off the 
town of Horta, in the island of Fayal. As the wind was 
east, the vessels had smooth water ; and the students 
were assembled at once to hear Professor Mapps’s talk 
about the Azores. 

“ The Azores are about two thousand miles from 
Boston, the direction being a little south of east. And 
the Prince or the Marian would make the voyage in 
six days, while our schooners, with a smashing breeze 
all the way, would do it in eight or nine. These islands 
have received various names ; and people now call 
them indifferently the ‘ Western ’ and the ‘ Azores.’ 
They are the most western of the four groups of 
islands lying nearest to the Western Continent ; and 
this explains the first name. The other word comes 
from the Portuguese ci$or, a hawk ; and I suppose the 
early settlers found that bird here. The Portuguese 
word is adores , with a mark like a comma under the c, 
which makes it sound like an s. They have also been 
called the Flamingos, or Flemish, the latter being the 
Portuguese for the former. They were so called from 
the people of Flanders who settled here. 

“It is a little odd that these islands, like those 
we have lately visited, were discovered by navigators 
who were driven off their course by heavy weather. 
In this instance it was one J. Vanderberg, a merchant 
of the city of Bruges, making a voyage to Lisbon, who 


3io 


ISLES OF THE SEA j OR, 


had the unfortunate good fortune to discover these 
islands in the year 1431. When Vanderberg finally 
reached Lisbon, he was imprudent enough to mention 
his discovery. At this time Portugal was at the height 
of the wonderful prosperity I have before described to 
you ; and she was ambitious to acquire all the territory 
she could. An expedition was immediately fitted out, 
which first visited the Formigas, near St. Mary, which 
we saw yesterday morning. In due time the Portu- 
guese obtained full possession of all the islands of the 
group ; and have held it to the present time.. The rev- 
olutions of the mother-country have extended to these 
islands ; and it is said that the women displayed more 
of the spirit of resistance than the men in some of 
them. 

“ These islands lie between thirty-six and forty, 
north latitude, and twenty-five and thirty-two, west 
longitude. They are a province of the kingdom of 
Portugal, and are represented in the general Cortes, 
Madeira and the Azores having five deputies. The 
islands are subdivided into three districts, — the eastern, 
western, and central, — according to location. You 
observe that the islands are considerably scattered, and 
it takes more than a day’s sail for a fast steamer to go 
from one extremity of the group to the other. 

“Corvo and Flores form the western district. The 
latter is the larger island, about ten miles by seven ; 
and the other is about half its size. They are of vol- 
canic origin, like all the group ; and are mountainous, 
some of the peaks being about three thousand feet high. 
Santa Cruz is the chief town of Flores : it is seldom 
visited by ships, except whalers, which obtain supplies 
there cheaper than at the other islands. 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 


3 11 


“ The central district is composed of five islands, of 
which Fayal and Pico are the principal. It is three 
and a quarter miles across the channel between them 
at the narrowest place. Fayal takes its name from 
faya , a beech-tree, and is about a dozen miles in diam- 
eter. Of its population of thirty thousand, one-third 
are here in Horta, and the rest in nine villages in the 
interior. This place is the capital, and it has the best 
harbor in the island ; but it is exposed to winds from 
the north and north-east, and from the south-east to the 
south-west. The south-east gales are the worst ones, 
and they rake the anchorage so that it sometimes 
becomes necessary for ships to put to sea to keep out 
of danger. 

“ Of course you have noticed the high mountain to 
the south-east of us ; it is the peak of Pico, from which 
the island takes its name. This island is twenty-five 
miles long, and from two to nine miles wide. It is 
covered with extinct volcanoes. The sugar-loaf peak 
of Pico is over seven thousand feet high. The kind 
of clouds which gather around the mountain indicate 
the coming weather, so that it is a barometer to those 
who have the skill to read the signs. The island con- 
tains a large population. By the Statesman’s Year 
Book, I find that the area of these islands is a little 
less than a thousand square miles, and the population 
about two hundred and fifty thousand. The grape 
disease, of which I have spoken before, extended to 
the Western Islands ; and since that time the wine- 
trade has been very small. The principal production 
is oranges. The wine from this island was called Pico- 
Madeira ; and it is sjtill manufactured to some extent. 


3 12 


ISLES OF THE SEA ; OR, 


“ St. George is thirty miles long, and five wide ; and 
has a peak four thousand feet high in the centre. 
Griciosa is about seven miles in diameter, and noted 
for its fertility, producing all kinds of grain in abun- 
dance. Terceira was so called because it was the third 
island discovered by the Portuguese, the word being 
the feminine of the ordinal ‘third.’ It is about twenty 
miles in diameter, and exceedingly fertile. It has been 
called the principal island of the group. Angra was 
formerly the capital of the islands, and is a larger place 
than Horta, containing over ten thousand inhabitants, 
which is a quarter of the population of the island. Its 
harbor is sheltered from the west by the promontory of 
Monte Brazil, over five hundred feet . high. It is one 
of the finest of the Atlantic cities. 

“ Sao Miguel, or St. Michael, is the largest and most 
populous of the Azores. Its length is variously given 
from thirty-five to fifty miles and from five to twelve 
miles wide. Like the other islands, it is full of volca- 
noes, and is remarkable for some curious changes in its 
surface ; as a grassy plain, covered with trees and foli- 
age, was raised two thousand feet by volcanic action in 
a year. Old craters become lakes ; and I hope you 
will see an example of this kind here in Fayal. In 
1811 an island rose out of the sea, less than two miles 
from the shore, and the English took possession of it ; 
but when they came to look for their new territory, a 
few weeks later, it ‘had gone down to drink,’ — had 
disappeared in the ocean. 

“ Ponta Delgada is considered the third city of the 
Portuguese Dominion, and is on the south side of this 
island ; its population has been estimated as high as 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 313 

fifty thousand. It looks like most of the Portuguese 
cities you have seen. The island is very productive, 
making a large commerce for this city, which is its prin- 
cipal port. 

“One of the principal industries of Fayal is basket- 
making ; and stores for the sale of these wares are to 
be found in Boston and New York. Lace and fine 
needle-work are also specialties, for the wages of 
working-women are only a fourth of what they are in 
the United States. One hundred and fifty dollars a 
year will support a Portuguese family, but not an Amer- 
ican. These islands are very much resorted to by peo- 
ple from our own country who are troubled with pul- 
monary complaints, though the climate is hardly so 
free from changes as that of Madeira, and certainly 
not as Orotava, in the Canaries. Some of us have 
seen the bark Kate Williams coming out of Boston 
Harbor, with her deck crowded with passengers for 
these islands ; and one or two other vessels ply between 
the same city and Fayal.” 

The professor finished his talk ; and the next morn- 
ing a boat expedition was organized, in which all the 
cutters and barges of the fleet took part. Wainwright 
and Scott, by changing with a couple of officers in the 
captain’s gig of the Prince, obtained places in the same 
boat with Dr. Winstock, Sheridan, and Murray. The 
view from the anchorage was magnificent, covering an 
expanse of green hill-sides and of burnt and blackened 
mountains, the highest in sight being the peak of Pico. 

“ Can you tell me where the Pra9a Constitution is, 
doctor?” asked Scott, as he gazed at the pretty white 
houses of the town. 


ISLES OF THE SEA ; OR, 


314 

“I think there was no square of that name when I 
was here before ; but very likely they have one by this 
time,” replied the surgeon, laughing. “ Of course a 
Spanish or Portuguese town cannot get along without 
one. On our right is the castle of Santa Cruz ; and 
this name is quite as indispensable as that of the Con- 
stitution. Next to it is the mole, where you will land 
when you go on shore. The hills, which look so steep 
and rugged in places, are about five hundred feet 
high.” 

“ Here is a steep one on the starboard,” added Mur- 
ray. 

“ That is only half the height I named. It is Monte 
Queimada, a volcano. Its sides look like a mass of 
cinders ; but the streets and roads of this vicinity are 
of the same thing, as are many of the sides of the hills. 
Now we are approaching Monte da Guia. It is nearly 
five hundred feet high. That building on this side is 
a chapel.” 

The boats pulled around the point, and soon came 
to an opening in the cliffs, not more than an eighth of 
a mile wide, into which the Prince’s gig, leading the 
way, entered, and proceeded about a quarter of a mile. 

“ Now we are in the crater of a dead volcano,” said 
the doctor, after the oarsmen had been directed to lie 
on their oars. “ The inside of it has been blown out by 
the commotion of the elements, and one side of it has 
caved in so as to form a passage into it. You can see 
clearly the form of the crater on the land side. We 
call these extinct volcanoes ; but they are liable to 
break out anew at any time. Nine years ago the earth 
was fearfully shaken by internal commotions, so that 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 3 1 5 

the people left their houses, under whose falling walls 
they were in danger of being buried, and lodged in tents. 
But the ground may open and draw them in at any 
time.” 

The students gazed with wondering interest at the 
interior of the crater. The fleet of boats then pulled 
out and around the Point into Pirn Bay, an enclosure 
formed by the peninsula at the end of which is the 
Caldeira Inferno, as the burnt-out volcano is called, 
meaning “ the caldron of hell,” a name to which it is 
properly entitled. Pirn Bay is only a quarter of a mile 
wide ; but it is perfectly sheltered by the high hills 
mentioned, and the island, on three sides, but is open 
on the south-west. It has a castle for its defence ; 
and the streets of the town of Horta extend over to it, 
so that the port is used for loading small vessels. 

The boats returned by noon, and the students were 
well pleased with the excursion ; but most of them 
were anxious to get out into the country, where the 
orange-trees were in their glory. After dinner they 
were permitted to land, and visit the town, or roam on 
the hill-sides, as they chose. 

“ Nearly two hundred whale-ships used to come into 
this port for supplies, and to unload their oil, which 
was shipped from here to the United States,” said Dr. 
Winstock, when the party had landed at the mole. 
“A great many of the people of these islands have 
engaged in the whale-fishery in our ships, which has 
induced them to emigrate to our country ; and there 
is a part of New Bedford called ‘ New Fayal.’ ” 

“ I think I should emigrate if the ground was liable 
to open and swallow me up,” said Scott. 


3 l6 


ISLES OF THE SEA ; OR, 


“ The people are used to that sort of thing,” added 
Murray. 

“Used to being swallowed up in the earth!” ex- 
claimed Scott. “ I believe it would take me a long time 
to get used to that sort of thing ; for I am inclined to 
think it hurts.” 

“Used to the liability, I mean,” protested Murray. 

“That is certainly the case,” said the doctor. “One 
does not heed danger after he gets used to it. There 
are thousands of people who would not risk themselves 
on the ocean, as you do every day of your lives without 
thinking any thing of it at all.” 

The party walked all over the town without seeing 
any thing that particularly attracted their attention, or 
that was worth recording. The next day they went to 
the Caldron, which is an extinct volcano. The crater 
is five miles around, the sides sloping uniformly down 
to the depth of seventeen hundred feet, and being cov- 
ered with grass and foliage of plants. At the bottom 
is a lake with a small island in the middle of it. This 
island is a hill having a hole in the top of it, from 
which the subterranean fires once poured out. 

Another day was given to an excursion over to Pico ; 
and then the regular work of the schoolroom was re- 
sumed. The squadron remained a week at the port of 
Horta, wondering why the Ville d’ Angers did not come. 

“ I am afraid my ward has given you the slip altQ- 
gether,” said Judge Rodwood, when all hands were out 
of patience at the non-arrival of the steamer. 

“ I do not think so now ; though I had some painful 
suspicions to that effect in the first of it,” replied Mr, 
Lowington. 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 317 

\ “ Capt. O’Hara has certainly had time enough to get 
here,” added the judge. “ It is not more than a three- 
days’ run from Teneriffe to these islands.” 

“Unless the Ville d’Angers returned to Funchal, 
Capt. O’Hara would not know where to look for the 
squadron,” argued the principal. “ I have no doubt 
the students are safe enough, and that they will join 
us some time.’ 

“There may have been a row on board,” suggested 
Dr. Phelps. “You remember the captain had some 
trouble with his crew, according to the English paper 
which gave us the news.” 

“ I do not apprehend any thing serious on that ac- 
count ; for the boatswain and the carpenter will obey 
the orders of the captain, whatever happens ; and he 
has the means to conquer any rebellion with their 
help.” 

“ But we have heard nothing from them since the 
newspaper account, except that they had sailed for 
Funchal, and then from Funchal for the Canaries,” con- 
tinued the judge. “ Are we to wait here till they 
come ? ” 

“ It is a run of nearly eighteen hundred miles to the 
Bermudas, which is our next stopping-place ; and I 
should like to see the Ville d’Angers before she sets out 
on this long voyage,” replied Mr. Lowington. “ I have 
my doubts whether Mr. Frisbone, as he has the invalid 
sister of his wife with him, will care to go any farther 
than Madeira ; and I depend upon him to assist in 
keeping things straight on board of the steamer.” 

Another day passed, and the Ville d’Angers came 
not. Mr. Lowington began to be anxious, and the 


ISLES OF THE SEA; OR, 


318 

judge was more impatient than ever. At last, after t 
long conference, it was decided that the two steamers 
of the fleet should return to the Madeiras in search of 
the truants. Before night they were on their way ; but 
they were not ten hours out of Horta when the fog 
settled down upon them, and they were buried in it till 
they were near their destination. They went into the 
harbor of Funchal ; but the Ville d’ Angers had not 
returned. 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 319 


CHAPTER XXIII. 

CARRYING OUT THE PROGRAMME. 

C APT. O’HARA went on shore as soon as the 
Ville d’Angers dropped her anchor in the harbor 
of Funchal. After considerable inquiry he found the 
agent of the principal, and was very much surprised to 
learn that the fleet had sailed for the Canary Islands, 
leaving no instructions for him. The agent, or banker, 
knew nothing whatever of the intentions of Mr. Low- 
ington, nor even where the academy squadron was 
going from the Canaries. 

When the fleet sailed from Funchal, Mr. Lowington 
and the vice-principals had no doubt whatever that the 
absent students would return to the Madeiras by the 
mail-steamer which would arrive the last of the month. 
For this reason the principal had- not thought to leave 
any instructions for O’Hara. They were all confident 
they should find the party domiciled at a hotel on their 
arrival from the Canaries, or on board of the packet, 
if the fleet arrived before her. The problem was sim- 
ple enough ; and there appeared to be no chance for a 
failure to connect. 

O’Hara was on shore a couple of hours in his search 
for the banker, and in looking up what information he 


3 2 ° 


ISLES OF THE SEA; OR, 


could obtain in regard to the fleet. As soon as the 
island of Porto Santo was seen from the fore-top of the 
steamer, Gregory and Clinch began to be very nervous 
about the prospect ahead. They feared that the 
Josephine was still at Funchal, in spite of Gregory’s 
theory to the contrary. Whatever disposition was 
made of the rest of the ship’s company of the steamer, 
they were sure they should be handed over to the 
senior vice-principal on board of the schooner. They 
would at once be sent into the steerage of the vessel ; 
and this they regarded as the worst fate that could pos- 
sibly befall them . 

Since they had the liberty of the steamer, they had 
been planning all sorts of wild expeditions with the 
“ sprigs,” who had the highest opinion of the enter- 
prise of Gregory. They did not care for Clinch ; but 
they would rather take him than lose his companion 
in rebellion. They all desired to see the island of 
Madeira ; and they were willing to stay there a month 
or more in the springtime. After this, though their 
plans were not yet clearly defined, they intended to 
visit other islands of the Atlantic, and then go to the 
United States. Gregory was at home there, and would 
be of service to them. ' 

“ All this is very nice,” said Gregory, after the land 
had been reported ; “ but it will be all up with me as 
soon as we get to Funchal. I shall be sent on board 
of the vessel to which I belong ; and that will be the 
last you will see of me.” 

“ Nonsense ! ” exclaimed his British cousin. “ We 
are to get you out of this in some way.” 

“ How are you to get me out of it ? That’s the 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 


3 21 


question,” replied Gregory. “ It is not so easy a thing 
as you seem to imagine.” 

“I don’t know just how: I had not considered that. 
We can’t very well make the plan till we see the situa- 
tion.” 

“ There is no situation about it, Phil. After the 
vessel comes to anchor, I shall be sent on board of the 
Josephine, and that will be the end of it.” 

“Don’t croak, Dave!” protested Sir Philip, with 
some impatience in his manner. “The health officer 
will have to see you and Clinch when he visits the ship, 
just as they do in those bloody ports up the Mediter- 
ranean, where I spent my last vacation. After that, 
we can fix things all right.” 

“ I don’t believe you can,” added Gregory dubiously. 
“ If we wait till that time, it will be all up with me.” 

“ Not at all ! I will tell you just how I will do it 
now, for I am beginning to get an idea,” continued the 
Briton. “ You are about my size, and don’t look very 
unlike me. I shall pretend I have an ague, or a cold 
in the head, or something of that kind. After I have 
said good-by to the ladies and others, I will conceal 
myself in some part of the vessel. Then you will put 
on my mackintosh, cap, and muffler. You will cover 
your face, so that they will not know it is not I, and 
get into the boat, which we will have at the steps of 
the gangway beforehand. It shall be a shore boat, 
and no one will know any thing about the little trick.” 

Sir Philip Grayner rubbed his hands as though he 
was delighted with the ingenuity of the plan he had 
devised, and he thought it was very “ clever.” 

“What will you do? ’’asked Gregory, who thought 
the plan might work. 


3 22 


ISLES OF THE SEA ; OR, 


“ When you have had time to put yourself into a safe 
place, I will show myself. Of course they will be sur- 
prised to see me ; and I shall be obliged to confess 
that I have played a bit of a Yankee trick upon them.” 

“Then they will know I have gone.” 

“No matter if they do, after you. are secure on shore. 
But very likely they will find that you have gone before 
I show mysel f , I can get the boatman to come back 
to the ship after he has landed you, and then I can say 
that I have come on board again after something I had 
left in my state-room ; and I can leave something 
there to make it seem all right. Of course you will 
take all my luggage with you when you go on shore.” 

“ Perhaps that will all work very . well, so far as I 
am concerned ; but how about Clinch ? ” asked Gregory. 

“ Oh, bother about Clinch ! ” exclaimed the Briton. 
“We don’t want him any way. He will spoil the whole 
thing ; and this will be a good plan to get rid of him.” 

“ But he has stood by me in all this business ; and I 
can’t desert him,” answered Gregory. “ It would be 
mean for me to do that.” 

“ But Lord Fillgrove must go in the boat with you, 
and come back with the boatman. It won’t look reg- 
ular if he don’t,” protested Sir Philip. “I don’t see 
any way to get Clinch out of the steamer, unless we 
get him into the boat in some manner before you and 
Fillgrove get in. You can manage that better than I 
can ; for you know the rules of your bloody ships, and 
I do not.” 

“Shakings overlooks every boat that comes to the 
steamer, or leaves it. We couldn’t get Clinch into the 
boat any more than we could get the engine into it,” 
replied Gregory. 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 


323 


“ Then you must leave him on board, unless you are 
willing to give up the journeys we have planned.” 

“ I am not willing to give them up, or to give up 
Clinch.” 

“ I’ll tell you what we can do. Tell Clinch I have 
a scheme by which I shall get him out of the ship 
after you and Fillgrove have gone,” suggested the 
Briton. 

“What is the scheme ? ” demanded Gregory. 

“ I haven’t it ready yet ; but I will think of it.” 

“ Then it’s only to get rid of him ; and I will not 
consent to that,” protested Gregory. But, if he had 
been entirely candid, he would have admitted that he 
did not care so much for Clinch’s company as he had 
before, now that he had better associates, — a baronet 
and a viscount. 

“ I don’t mean to get rid of your friend, though I 
don’t care for him. There are a dozen means of get- 
ting him out of the ship ; and I shall fix upon one 
before we reach the harbor,” replied Sir Philip. “ I 
see it now ! When you get on shore, you can get some 
young fellow, dressed in poor clothes, to come on board 
with Fillgrove ; and Clinch shall change his uniform 
for that of the stranger, and go on shore in his place. 
That will work like a charm ! ” 

The Briton was entirely satisfied with the scheme; 
and Gregory was rather pleased with it, though he was 
not so sanguine of its success as his cousin. He had 
a talk with Clinch on the subject ; and that worthy was 
willing to assent to any thing that promised to release 
him from his captivity, and save him from the degra- 
dation of being sent into the steerage of the Josephine. 


324 ISLES OF THE SEA ; OR, 

It was about noon when the Ville d’ Angers dropped 
her anchor off the Loo Rock. The health officers 
promptly presented themselves ; and all hands were 
obliged to show themselves on the rail of the vessel, 
to assure the official that the persons named in the 
papers were well and hearty. As soon as this formality 
had been complied with, the ciptain ordered out his 
boat to go on shore ; for all the surprise and consterna- 
tion at not finding the academy squadron in the harbor 
had been expressed before the steamer anchored. 

Plenty of shore-boats were within hailing distance of 
the gangway; and Gregory, as had been arranged, 
“went into retirement.” The mackintosh, cap, and 
other articles belonging to Sir Philip had been placed 
where they would be available as soon as the mutineer 
needed his disguise. Capt. Fairfield was conducting 
his recitations in the after-part of the cabin ; and the 
exercises were not interrupted by the arrival of the 
vessel in port, as the watch on deck was sufficient to 
anchor the steamer. As soon as the health examin- 
ation was finished, the recitations were resumed. The 
mutineers had not been asked to attend to their studies, 
for the reason that it would bring them into too close 
relations with the members of the starboard watch. 

“ But the academy vessels are not here ! ” exclaimed 
Sir Philip, seeking Gregory in his retirement. 

“ So much the better ! ” ejaculated the malecontent. 

“But what will the captain of the steamer do? he 
was confident of finding all the squadron here,” added 
the Briton. 

“ I don’t know what he will do ; and he is not likely 
to take me into his confidence,” said Gregory. 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 325 

u The captain has gone on shore ; and I dare say he 
will do as Prince Fri^bone advises him to do.” 

“ I suppose he will.” 

“ Then we will wait till the captain returns before we 
do any thing,” continued Sir Philip. 

“ Don’t do that ! ” exclaimed Gregory, appalled at 
the suggestion. “ What do you want to wait for ? ” 

“ As the squadron isn’t here, very likely this steamer 
will go on to some other place.” 

“ Let it go ! I don’t care whither it goes if I can 
only get out of it ! ” exclaimed Gregory. 

“ But I rather like this sort of life. I have had a 
jolly good time since I came on board of the Ville 
d’Angers ; and I am in no hurry to leave her if she is 
going farther, and the captain, or rather Prince Fris- 
bone, will allow me to do so.” 

“ I don’t want to go any farther in her ! ” protested 
Gregory, disgusted with the proposition of his cousin. 
“ I am a prisoner on board of this vessel ; and, if you 
intend to remain any longer in her, I shall get out of 
her before she leaves Funchal if I can. That’s the 
kind of a codfish I am.” 

“ But if the Josephine isn’t here, they can’t send you 
back to her, you know,” added the sprig. 

“ That’s very true ; but if she had been here, the 
captain wouldn’t have gone on shore, and they would 
have bundled me on board of her before this time,” 
growled Gregory, utterly dissatisfied with the present 
situation of his affairs. “ Don’t you see that I can get 
off twice as well now that the captain and his boat’s 
crew have left the ship ? ” 

“ Upon my word, I believe you are more than half 
right, Dave ! ” exclaimed the Briton. 


326 ISLES OF THE SEA ; OR, 

“ Your plan wouldn’t have worked at all, if the fleet 
had been in the harbor. Don’t you see that Fluxion 
would have been alongside the steamer as soon as the 
health officer would let him do so ? He would miss me 
at once, for I am one of his officers, and would ask for- 
me. That would bring out the captain’s story, and I 
should be looked up at once. We are in luck as it is ; 
and I am in favor of attending to the business at this 
very moment, and before the captain gets back.” 

“ All right ! and to oblige you, Dave, I will give up 
the idea of making a longer cruise in the Ville d’ An- 
gers,” replied Sir Philip. “ I will go on deck, and hail 
a boat.” 

He had hardly gone before Clinch joined Gregory. 
They had a conference in regard to Clinch’s prospect 
of getting off if his companion succeeded ; and Greg- 
ory assured him he was almost sure that the plan relat- 
ing to his friend would work even better than the one 
for his own escape. Clinch was satisfied with this 
answer, and was confident that his companion would 
stand by him. 

On deck Sir Philip found only Speers, the second 
officer, and four seamen. Capt. O’Hara had taken 
Raymond with him for the reason that the latter could 
speak the Portuguese language. The engineers were 
all busy with the machinery. Speers was studying his 
lessons in the pilot-house, as he did every moment of 
the time when he was not on duty. O’Hara, as has 
been stated before, had spoken of a new method of 
making the promotions, which had come to his knowl- 
edge. The captain and the other officers of the 
steamer were intensely interested in this information, 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 


327 


and they wished to be prepared for it, whatever it 
proved to be ; for they had no knowledge of the nature 
of the new method. 

O’Hara and Speers had been studying with all their 
might, in order to be ready for any thing. What the 
new method was, the students had the privilege of 
guessing ; and they could not well help using it. The 
captain thought it must be a new system of marking 
the value of the students’ work ; but the second officer 
felt very confident that the promotions were to be made 
by the results of a monthly examination. Each argued 
for his own view, and each continued to struggle to put 
himself in condition for any thing. 

Sir Philip and Lord Fillgrove ventured to interrupt 
the studies of the officer of the deck long enough to 
say good-by to him. Tom shook hands with them, 
responding to their expressions of good-will, and then 
resumed his study ; for he was in the middle of a diffi- 
cult problem in navigation, and he did not wish to lose 
the run of it. 

The two sprigs bade farewell to the Prince and the 
ladies, who were making their preparations to go on 
shore. They took leave of Capt. Fairfield and the 
officers of the starboard watch in a body, and then 
hastened out of the cabin. Calling a boat to the 
gangway, the steward put their luggage into it ; and 
then Sir Philip hastened below to carry out the more 
difficult part of the programme. All things worked 
perfectly, and he did not find it necessary at present to 
act the farce of being sick or having the ague. The 
day was quite cool ; and this was a good reason for 
putting on an overcoat, especially as there was consid- 
erable sea in the harbor. 


3 28 


ISLES OF THE SEA j OR, 


“ Now we are all ready ! ” exclaimed the Baronet, in 
a low tone, as he joined his cousin in the smoking- 
room, an apartment which had been used during the 
voyage only by the Britons. 

“ Who’s on deck ? ” asked Gregory very nervously. 

“ Mr. Speers is in the pilot-house studying his navi- 
gation ; and there are some seamen about the deck ; 
but all is working well. I have the luggage in the 
boat, and Fillgrove has put on his ulster so as to be in 
keeping with you. Here is the mackintosh, Dave ; on 
with it,” continued Sir Philip, taking the coat from the 
peg where he had hung it. 

Gregory put on the garment, and put the muffler 
around his neck, concealing his face below the nose. 
Sir Philip jammed his Scotch cap down over his eyes, 
and it would have been difficult for any one to discover 
the deception. No one on board would have suspected 
that the coat did not contain a young baronet. 

“ Now, here is a sovereign to blind the eyes of the 
steward if he looks too closely at you,” continued the 
Briton, as he opened the door of the smoking-room. 
“ Don’t stop a moment till you are in the boat.” 

Gregory left the room, and hastened to the gangway, 
where the steward, who had waited on the sprigs at the 
table, stood by the side of the other passenger. 

“ You will be warm enough in that coat and those 
mufflers,” said the steward, as Gregory approached the 
steps. 

“ This blasted water is very rough and cold,” inter- 
posed Lord Fillgrove, turning up the collar of his 
ulster. “It is best to keep the bloody stuff outside of 
you.” 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 


3 2 9 


“ So it is, my lord,” replied the man. 

At this moment Gregory handed the steward the 
money the baronet had given him for the purpose, 
though his companion had distracted the attention of 
the man. 

“ God bless you, Sir Philip ! ” exclaimed the grateful 
steward, as he put the sovereign in his pocket ; and no 
doubt he wished the steamer had more passengers of 
the same sort, for his lordship had “ tipped ” him in 
the same amount. 

Gregory hurried down the steps into the boat, and 
seated himself in the stern-sheets. The Portuguese 
boatman pushed off, and in a moment more was pulling 
his fare to the shore. 

“This won’t do ! ” exclaimed Gregory, when the boat 
had gone but a short distance. 

“What won’t do? ” asked Lord Fillgrove. 

“The boatman is headed towards the usual landing- 
place ; and the captain’s boat is there, waiting for him.” 

“ I don’t see that we can help ourselves,” replied his 
lordship. 

“ Tell the fellow to pull us to some other place ! ” 
persisted Gregory, in mortal terror lest Raymond 
should discover him when he went on shore. 

“But you can’t land anywhere else; the custom- 
house blackguards will have to overhaul the luggage, 
don’t you know ? ” 

There was no help for it, and Gregory had to submit 
to the course of events. But Lord Fillgrove volun- 
teered to do all the talking, and suggested that his 
companion should pretend to have the toothache, or 
the ague, or something of that sort. The boat carried 


330 


ISLES OF THE SEA j OR, 


them to the usual landing-place ; and the boatman 
handed the baggage out upon the mole. The custom- 
house 'officers were very indulgent, and did not detain 
them beyond a few moments. 

The captain’s boat was lying near the shore, and 
Raymond sat in the stern sheets. He could not help 
seeing the passengers ; and his lordship waved his 
adieus ; but the fourth officer of the Ville d’Angers 
did not seem to be satisfied with this parting, and 
ordered the bowman to pull- the boat in to the shore. 
The officer landed, and seized the hand of Lord Fill- 
grove. 

“ I am sorry you are going to leave us,” said he. 

“ And Sir Philip and I have shed tears at the neces- 
sity of saying good-by to you,” gushed his lordship. 

“ But what is the matter with Sir Philip ? ” asked 
Raymond, wondering that he was so distant and unso- 
cial, when they had been on excellent terms on board 
of the steamer. 

“ You must excuse Sir Philip, for he is in terrible 
agony with a toothache which has just seized him. He 
is in such pain, that he can’t open his mouth,” replied 
Lord Fillgrove. 

With one hand on his jaw, Gregory extended the 
other to Raymond, who warmly pressed it. 

“ I am sorry you are in such pain, Sir Philip ; but I 
know what the toothache is, and I will not detain you 
a moment,” added Raymond, shaking the hand he held 
again. 

Gregory hastened away, holding on to his jaw, and 
groaning audibly to heighten the deception ; and, though 
Raymond had the credit of being a sharp officer, he 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 


331 


did not suspect any thing wrong about the passengers. 
His lordship called a porter (or, rather, he selected 
one from a dozen who had called themselves), and 
directed the luggage to be carried to the principal 
hotel. In a few moments he overtook his companion, 
who had turned down the collar of his mackintosh, for 
he had suddenly recovered from his toothache, and 
seemed to be in good spirits for one who had been 
such a recent sufferer. 

“ That was cleverly done,” chuckled his lordship, as 
they followed the porter to the hotel. 

“ Nothing could have been better done ; no Yankee 
could have managed it more neatly,” replied Gregory. 

“ No, I should say not ! If that was a Yankee trick, 
we Britishers can play a good game at it,” said Lord 
Fillgrove, laughing. 

A short walk brought them to the hotel, and they 
were assigned a room. As soon as the baggage had 
been brought in, they locked the door. 

“ Now what am I to do ? ” asked Gregory. “ I am 
sure to be bagged if I stay here. As soon as I am 
missed, O’Hara will be after me with a sharp stick ; or, 
more likely, he will send that bear of a Prince Frisbone 
to look me up.” 

“ You mustn’t stay in the town an hour ! ” exclaimed 
his lordship. “ Have you any money to pay your 
expenses ? ” 

“ I have plenty of sovereigns,” answered Gregory. 

“Those are the best money to have anywhere on 
Portuguese territory. Find a horse, and ride till you 
come to some town or village ; and don’t let the grass 
grow under your feet.” 


332 


ISLES OF THE SEA; OR, 


A couple of ponies were soon found, and a guide was 
engaged who spoke English. Thus prepared, Gregory 
hastened off. Lord Fillgrove returned to the mole, 
where he obtained a boat, and was pulled off to the 
ship. He had picked up a porter on his way, and had 
already given a liberal fee to both him and the boat- 
man. He saw that the captain’s ooat was still lying 
at the mole ; but he gave it a wide berth this time, for 
he had no “ blackguards of custom-house officers ” to 
bother him. His lordship had brought back the mack- 
intosh and other clothing of his fellow-passenger. Sir 
Philip put them on. He had Clinch in the smoking- 
room with him, and in a few moments the porter and 
the . mutineer had exchanged garments. Sir Philip 
brought a carpet-bag he had left in his st^te-room, and 
Clinch was required to carry it to the gangway. 

For some reason or other, Speers was on the poop- 
deck. 




YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 


333 


CHAPTER XXIV. 

\ # 

A HASTY RUN TO THE CAPE VERDS. 

P OSSIBLY Tom Speers had finished his difficult 
problem in navigation, and was making his rounds 
of the deck of the ship ; or possibly the coming of the 
shore-boat had been reported to him by the lookout, 
and he wished to assure himself that every thing about 
the steamer was all right : at any rate, the officer of 
the deck was there, just where the sprigs did not wish 
him to be. 

“Ah, Sir Philip, I thought you had gone on shore 
some time ago,” said Tom, as blandly as though there 
was no mischief in him. 

“ So I did go on shore, Mr. Speers ; but I forgot 
this bloody carpet-bag, and I came back after it,” re- 
plied the baronet, pointing to the piece of baggage in 
the hand of the assumed porter. 

Speers looked at the bag, and then into the face of 
the porter, though Clinch turned away, and tried to 
avoid his gaze. 

“ Really, Mr. Clinch, I don’t think you look so well 
in that dress as you do in your regular uniform,” said 
Speers, with a pleasant smile. 

At the same time he placed himself between the 


334 


ISLES OF THE SEA ; OR, 


intended fugitive and the gangway. He looked as mild 
as one of the chaplain’s lambs ; and the Britons evi- 
dently did not regard his opposition as very serious. 

“ I will thank you to step out of the way, Mr. Speers, 
and allow his lordship and myself to get into the boat,” 
said Sir Philip, rather brusquely. 

“ Certainly, Sir Philip ; I have not the slightest 
objection to your getting into the boat,” replied Tom, 
stepping aside so that the baronet could pass, but still 
remaining between Clinch and the steps. 

“ And that porter must carry my bag into the boat, 
and take it up to the hotel when he gets ashore,” con- 
tinued Sir Philip haughtily. 

“ I beg your pardon, Sir Philip ; but the captain’s 
order is, that no one belonging to the steamer shall be 
allowed to go on shore,” interposed the officer of the 
deck. 

“ Into the boat with you, porter ! ” cried the baronet, 
who was disposed to carry his point, though he was 
entirely willing to part company with Clinch, whom he 
regarded as an undesirable companion for the proposed 
lark. 

Clinch saw that his last chance was to make a rush 
into the boat, in which Lord Fillgrove had already 
seated himself. He made a desperate push to get by 
Tom Speers ; but the officer promptly grabbed him by 
the collar, and crowded him back from the rail. 

“Let go of him, or I’ll break your bloody head ! ” 
exclaimed Sir Philip. 

“ I should be sorry to strike a baronet ; but, if you 
do, there will be two bloody and broken heads in this 
vicinity,” answered Tom quietly. “ Mr. Clinch is an 
officer of the steamer, and he cannot leave her.” 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 


335 


“ But he shall leave her ! ” protested Sir Philip, blus- 
tering up to the officer of the deck. 

“ I think not. — Winchell, pass the word for Mr. 
Shakings,” added Tom, addressing one of the watch 
who had come up to see what the matter was. 

“ Pass the word for Mr. Shakings ! ” called Winchell, 
hailing the other seamen of the watch on the fore- 
castle. 

“ Now's your time, Clinch ! ” shouted Sir Philip. 
“Into the boat with you before the big boatswain 
comes ! ” 

Clinch threw the carpet-bag upon the rail, and rushed 
Upon Speers, intent upon crowding him out of the way. 
But Tom was stout, resolute, and self-possessed ; and 
he easily flung his adversary back. But the Briton on 
the deck was excited ; and he went in to assist the 
porter. He struck Speers a heavy blow in the face, 
while he was engaged with Clinch ; but, as soon as the 
mutineer was disposed of, Tom turned his attention to 
the sprig; and, with a well-directed hit on the nose, 
sent him over backwards, with his prominent facial 
organ bathed in gore. The victory was certainly with 
Tom Speers so far. But Clinch had picked himself up 
during this diversion, and was about to leap on the 
rail, when Shakings grabbed him by the collar. 

“ So you have got a new uniform, my beauty ! ” ex- 
claimed the big boatswain, as he slung his prisoner 
back like a basket of bread. 

Sir Philip picked himself up ; and he was the mad- 
dest baronet on the face of the Western Continent. 
He wanted to fight for revenge now rather than for 
the possession of Clinch. He was making a rush at 


3 3 6 


ISLES OF THE SEA j OR, 


Tom Speers, who stood ready for him, when Mr. Rim- 
mer, attracted by the scuffle, came aft as fast as his 
slow-moulded nature would permit. 

“ Hold this fellow, Rimmer,” said Shakings, handing 
Clinch over to him. “ I never whacked a baronet yet ; 
but now is my chance ! ” 

Speers had warded off the blow of Sir Philip, and 
put his left eye in mourning, when the big boatswain 
seized the baronet by the collar, and tipped him over 
upon the deck. The sprig struggled with all his might ; 
and the boatswain kept flopping him over and over on 
the planks, as one deals with an unruly fish he has 
pulled out of the water. In a few moments the baro- 
net had had enough of this harsh treatment, and he 
refrained from further struggles. 

“ Shall I lock him up in a state-room, Mr. Speers ? ” 
asked Shakings, as he held his prisoner at arm’s length. 

“ Lock me up in a state-room ! ” exclaimed Sir Philip, 
gasping for breath, after his violent struggle. “ I am a 
British subject ! ” 

“ But British subjects must behave themselves on 
board of this vessel, as well as others,” replied Shak- 
ings, laughing at the bluster of the baronet. 

“ Hallo ! what’s all this about ? ” called the Prince, 
coming out of the cabin, where he had been disturbed 
by the noise of the struggle. 

Tom Speers pointed to Clinch, in his Portuguese 
dress, and explained the cause of the trouble. 

“ You haven’t behaved yourself as a barinet should,” 
said the Prince. “ If you want to interfere with the 
discipline of this vessel, you won’t feel at home here. 
— What do you wish to do with him, Mr. Speers ? ” 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 


337 


I don’t wish to do any thing with him ; and I haven’t 
objected to his getting into the boat,” replied Speers. 
“ He pitched into me because I would not let Clinch 
leave the vessel ; and I have simply defended myself, 
though it has cost him a black eye and a bloody nose. 
Put him into his boat, Mr. Shakings.” 

The baronet wiped his bleeding member ; and, while 
he was doing so, Shakings hoisted him upon the rail, 
and gave him a smart shove down the steps. Sir Philip 
saw that he was making nothing by prolonging the 
conflict ; and now, if not before, he realized that he was 
fighting for one whom he desired to get rid of. He 
had done all he could to gratify his cousin’s sense of 
honor, and he went down into the boat. The boatman 
shoved off, and pulled for the shore. 

“ Where is Mr. Gregory ? ” asked Speers, when the 
boat had gone ; for he thought it a little strange that 
the other mutineer was not in the scrape. 

Search for Gregory was made ; and of course nothing 
was found of him, for at this time he was galloping 
away from Funchal. But in the smoking-room, the 
Portuguese porter was found, dressed up in Clinch’s 
uniform. Shakings could not help laughing at the fig- 
ure the swarthy fellow cut in his blue frock, or at the 
appearance of Clinch in the garments of the Portuguese. 
Speers ordered them to exchange garments ; and di- 
rected the boatswain to lock the officer into his state- 
room till the captain returned. 

It was evident that Gregory had escaped from the 
steamer ; and, by comparing notes, it was made plain 
enough that he had gone off in the mackintosh and cap 
of the baronet. The officer of the deck called a shore- 


338 ISLES OF THE SEA ; OR, 

boat, and sent one of the stewards with a note for the 
captain to the mole where Raymond was waiting fo>' 
him. It contained a brief account of what had hap 
pened on board during his absence. 

O’Hara was very unwilling to leave the harbor with- 
out the fugitive ; and he stated his case to the consul, 
who promised to have him arrested as a runaway sailor. 

O’Hara had only ascertained that the squadron had 
sailed for Santa Cruz de Teneriffe six days before. 
He had no doubt the fleet was there then ; and he ex- 
amined the chart. Satisfied with the promise of the 
consul to arrest and hold the escaped prisoner, he 
decided, after consulting the adults on board, to sail 
for the Canaries. Mr. Frisbone concluded to remain on 
board, with his wife and her sister ; for they had all 
become in a measure accustomed to the sea, and Miss 
Louise had wonderfully improved in health. 

O’Hara was very confident that he should find the 
fleet at Santa Cruz ; but great was his astonishment 
when he arrived, to find it was not there. He ordered 
out the second cutter ; and, taking Raymond with him 
to talk Spanish for him, he went on shore. He in- 
quired at the custom - house, and learned that the 
squadron, with the Marian, had sailed for Palmas, in 
the Grand Canary. As at Funchal, the principal had 
kept his own counsel, and no further information could 
be obtained. This was the first time he heard that 
the steam-yacht of Judge Rodwood was with the squad- 
ron. 

“ Tom, my boy, the judge is after you,” said O’Hara 
when he returned to the ship. “ He came here with 
the squadron, in the Marian ; and she seems to be ^ 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 


339 


part of the fleet, for she sailed with the other vessels 
for the Grand Canary.” 

“Then perhaps my cruise in the Tritonia is nearly 
up,” replied Tom, rather sadly. 

“ Faix, I don’t know that we shall ever find that same 
fleet ! ” exclaimed Capt. O’Hara. “ It seems to be 
dodging us, wherever we go.” 

“ I am in no great hurry to find it,” added Tom, with 
a smile, as he turned to his books, which were his con- 
stant companions when he was not on duty, and some- 
times when he was. 

“ Well, what’s to be done ? ” asked the Prince, as 
O’Hara reported to him the latest news. 

“ I suppose we can do nothing but follow the fleet ; 
and, if it holds still long enough, I have no doubt we 
shall find it after a while,” answered O’Hara. 

“But I didn’t cal’late to go any further than Me- 
day-ry. I am over here now to build up the health of 
Louise ; and here we are trapsing all over the ocean 
with you boys,” added Mr. Frisbone, laughing. 

“ Upon my sowl, the young lady is growing prettier 
and prettier every day she lives ! ” exclaimed the gal- 
lant captain. “ I think you are doing the right thing 
now for her health.” 

“ Well, I don’t know but we are ; for sartainly she is 
gaining every day ; and her appetite is as good as one 
of the hands before the mast.” 

“ I should be sorry to have you leave us, Prince 
Frisbone ; for you have kept my back as stiff as the 
mainmast of the ship,” said O’Hara, who was really 
very much attached to the eccentric passenger, as well 
as to the ladies of his party. 


340 


ISLES OF THE SEA ; OR, 


“ I should be sorry to leave before you find the 
squadron ; but you may chase it clean across the ocean 
to America.” 

“ Then stay with us, darling ; for I may be sent in 
the steamer to bring you back to whatever port you 
want to go,” replied O’Hara, laughing. “Though I 
am doing my best to find the fleet, I like the position 
I hold now very well indeed ; and it will be a sorry 
day when I have to give it up.” 

“ But you ought to see sunthin or other of these 
islands we go to ; and I know my women-folks would 
like to stretch themselves on shore,” added the Prince. 

“ I shouldn’t dare to stop a day anywhere till I find 
the squadron,” said the captain, shaking his head, and 
looking very serious. 

“ But perhaps you are running away from it all the 
time,” suggested the Prince. 

Capt. Fairfield and Mr. Shakings were called; and 
they took the same view as the Prince. The fleet 
had gone to the southward ; and very likely it would 
return in a few days. This consideration induced 
O’Hara to decide upon a stay of a couple of days ; and 
all hands, except Clinch, were allowed to go on shore. 
On the 30th of the month, as the fleet did not appear, 
the Ville d’Angers sailed for Palmas. She arrived the 
same day ; and the captain learned that the squadron 
had gone to Orotava. After having a look at this city, 
Mr. Frisbone decided to take his wife’s sister there in 
the fall, and remain all winter. 

From this port the fleet had sailed for Santa Cruz 
de Palma ; and the steamer followed her after spend- 
ing a day at Orotava. On her arrival, the captain 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 


341 


learned that the fleet had departed. As none of the 
vessels were commercial craft, it did not appear that 
they had entered at the custom-house. As they came 
from another port in the Canary Islands, they had 
simply anchored, and the students went on shore to see 
the town, and what they could of the island, in a few 
hours. But where had the fleet gone now? for what 
port had it sailed ? The custom-house officials knew 
nothing about the destination of the squadron. O’- 
Hara and Raymond wandered about the town in 
search of information. Where was the pilot ? there 
was no harbor to enter, and they had taken no pilot. 

“ We don’t get ahead any,” said O’Hara, after they 
had continued the search for some time. 

“ Don’t you know what the principal’s programme 
for the voyage among the Isles of the Sea is ? ” inquired 
Raymond. 

“ I don’t know : he never gave me a copy of it.” 

“ I have heard it said that the squadron was to go 
to the Cape Verd Islands after Madeira, and then to the 
Azores.” 

“I have heard that same,” added O’Hara. “But 
don’t Capt. Fairfield know any thing about it?” 

As Capt. Fairfield was on shore with the rest of the 
ship’s company, he was able to speak for himself. He 
confirmed the impression of the captain and the fourth 
officer, that the squadron was to go to the Cape Verds. 
But he did not believe that it had been definitely 
settled where the vessels were to go ; and whether or 
not they visited certain islands, was to depend upon 
circumstances. The West Indies had been given up 
on account of the lateness of the season. While Capt. 


342 


ISLES OF THE SEA; OR, 


O’Hara was talking to the instructor about the niatter, 
a custom-house official spoke to Raymond. 

“ I am told that you wish to know for what port the 
two steamers and the two schooners that were here 
three days ago were bound when they left,” said the 
officer. 

“Yes, sir: we desire to know very much,” replied 
Raymond. “ Can you give us any information ? ” 

“ I can’t say that I have any official knowledge ; but 
I heard one of the gentlemen from the smaller steamer 
say they were bound for Porto Praya, in the Cape 
Verds.” 

This intelligence seemed to settle the matter. It 
was generally understood among the students, that the 
cruise was to include these islands ; and the statement 
of the custom-house official confirmed it. The officer 
spoke with Raymond in Spanish; but if he had heard 
him speak English, or try to do so, he w r ould have been 
satisfied the islander was not a reliable person to report 
an English conversation. 

“ If we are to follow up the fleet, we may as well go 
to Porto Praya,” said O’Hara, when all hands had re- 
turned to the ship after their visit to the town. 

“ I do not see that we can do any other way,” replied 
Tom Speers, to whom the remark was addressed. “ If 
the fleet has been to these islands, it will not be likely 
to come here again.” 

“ That it will not ; and we will sail for the Cape 
Verds at once.” 

Just before dark the Ville d’ Angers went out of the 
port, and directed her head to the south-south-west. 
Shakings knew all about these islands ; for he had been 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 


343 


in a man-of-war on this station, and the port most used 
by the African squadron was Porto Praya. The weather 
was delightful, and the steamer made a quick run in a 
little over three days. The last was spent in sight of 
the more eastern of the ten islands forming the group. 
Capt. Fairfield encouraged the students to study up the 
geography and history of the Cape Verds, in the ab- 
sence of Mr. Mapps. 

Like some of the other islands they had seen, their 
appearance from the ship was that of barren wastes of 
rock and lava. Off Porto Praya a pilot was obtained ; 
for the port has one of the best harbors to be found 
among the Isles of the Sea, though a heavy sea some- 
times breaks in on the shore, which renders it almost 
impossible to land. It was necessary to coal the 
steamer here, and while the work was in progress the 
students were allowed to go on shore. They found 
much to interest them here, for some things were dif- 
ferent from what they had seen in any of the other 
islands. They took a stroll out of the town, and fol- 
lowed a grassy valley for a couple of miles. Nineteen 
out of every twenty persons they met in the town and 
in the country were negroes ; and they were very lazy 
and indolent. They saw plenty of goats, monkeys, and 
parrots in their walk when they went out of the trav- 
elled road. Diminutive donkeys were the only domes- 
tic animals. There is scarcely any thing that can be 
called a tree, except the baobab-tree, which is only 
twelve or fifteen feet high, but is some twenty feet in 
diameter, while its thick head of branches is nearly fifty 
feet through. The fruit is called “monkey-bread.” 
Sugar, cotton, tobacco, rice, and goat-skins are among 
the principal productions. 


344 


ISLES OF THE SEA j OR, 


Santiago is the largest and most important of these 
islands. It is about thirty miles long, and half as wide. 
It has a population of ten thousand, the greater part 
of which is in Porto Praya. This town is the capital of 
the islands ; but it is a poorly built place, on a hill. 
The students were not disposed to spend much of their 
time on shore here. It was a vastly different region 
from the sunny Canaries \ and they were not sorry to 
leave it. 

The fleet was not here. Nothing had been heard 
from it. It was evident enough, after a full inquiry, 
that the squadron had not been to the Cape Verds. 
With the bunkers filled with coal, the Ville d’ Angers 
sailed to the north-west, with the intention of looking 
into the coaling-station on the island of St. Vincent. 
A run of half a day brought them between this island 
and St. Antonio, so that they could look into the bay. 
No fleet was there ; but the lofty peak of San Antonio, 
nearly ten thousand feet high, was to be seen on the 
island of this name. 

“We shall never find that fleet,” said O’Hara, when 
the ship was out in the open sea/ but with the lofty 
mountain still frowning down upon her. 

“ I doubt if we ever do,” replied Tom Speers. 

“ I don’t know where to go next in search of that 
same fleet,” continued O’Hara. “ I think we must 
hold another council of war. Will you oblige me, 
Tom, darlint, by asking Prince Frisbone, Capt. Fair- 
field, and Mr. Shakings to step into the pilot-house ? ” 

In a few minutes the council had assembled, and 
Capt. O’Hara conducted them into the chart-room 
adjoining. The large-scale charts, which had been 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 


345 


procured at Funchal and elsewhere, of the Cape Verds, 
had been put away ; and the “ North Atlantic ” lay on 
the table spread out for use. 

“ I haven’t the slightest doubt now that the fleet 
went from Funchal to the Western Islands,” said Capt. 
O’Hara, when the adults had assembled. 

“ I think we may be sartain of that now,” added the 
Prince. 

“ But the squadron sailed from Funchal on the 21st 
of last month ; and to-day is the 8th of this month, — 
nearly three weeks ago. Where it is, is the conundrum 
we have to guess at the prisint moment.” 

“ If the fleet went to the Western Islands on the 
2 1st of last month, it hasn’t staid there all this time, 
I’ll warrant,” said Mr. Shakings. 

“ The next isles of the sea the squadron will visit 
after the Azores will be the Bermudas, I know,” con- 
tinued the captain, as he took up a pencil, and began 
to figure on a bit of paper. 

“ Then all we have to do is to run for the Bermudas. 
How far off are they ? ” asked the Prince. 

“ I have not worked up the distance on a great cir- 
cle ; but I should say the distance was about two thou- 
sand miles.” 

“ Whew ! ” whistled the Prince. “ That is a long 
distance.” 

“ It is an eight-days’ run for the Ville d’Angers.” 

“ But the fleet may be waiting for us at the Western 
Islands,” suggested Capt. Fairfield. 

“ That’s true for you,” replied O’Hara. “ It may 
have gone back to Funchal to look for us.” 

“ And we are in a bad box,” laughed the Prince. 


346 


ISLES OF THE SEA ; OR, 


“ If we run for the Bermudas, the fleet may be looking 
for us at Funchal, the Canary, or the Western Islands. 
If we go back to these islands, they may go on to Ber- 
mudas, and be waiting for us there.” 

“ Whichever course we take, very likely we shall be 
sorry we didn’t take the other,” added O’Hara. “ It 
will require four days to go to Funchal, eight to Fayal, 
and seven more to Bermudas, making allowance for 
stops. What do you say, gentlemen ? ” 

“ I vote for Bermudas direct,” said the Prince. 

“ So do I,” added Shakings. 

“ Via Funchal,” Capt. Fairfield followed. 

“ Via Funchal is my judgment,” wound up the cap- 
tain. 

“ Funchal it is, then. You are the captain,” contin- 
ued the Prince. 

After looking the matter over again, Prince Frisbone 
changed his opinion ; and even Shakings admitted that 
it would be safer to go to Funchal. Capt. O’Hara 
gave out the course accordingly. But it was agreed by 
all, that it was useless to put in at the Canaries ; and 
the ship was headed direct for her port in the Madei- 
ras. In four days she arrived at Funchal. O’Hara 
and Raymond hastened on shore. They went to the 
consul’s office first. The American Prince and the 
Marian had been there the day before, and had sailed 
for Fayal again. The principal had left a letter for 
the captain of the Ville d’Angers. O’Hara took it, 
and eagerly broke the seal. The missive simply in- 
structed him to run for Fayal, if Mr. Frisbone did not 
object ; and, if the fleet were not there, to remain as 
long as was necessary for the students to see the island, 


YOUNG \MERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 


347 


and then, if the fleet had departed, to sail for the Ber- 
mudas, making a harbor at St. George’s. Mr. Lowing- 
ton stated that the Ville d’Angers had been reported at 
Santa Cruz de Teneriffe, and that he had ceased to be 
anxious for the safety of the absentees. 

All this was very satisfactory to the captain of the 
steamer. He asked the consul for his prisoner; but 
this gentleman stated that Mr. Lowington had settled 
the case. As soon as possible, the Ville d’Angers was 
on her way to the Western Islands. The fleet had 
gone. After a day at Horta, the steamer followed, and 
reached St. George on the 23d. No fleet was there. 


34 « 


ISLES OF THE SEA; OR, 


CHAPTER XXV. 

THE LAST OF THE ISLES OF THE SEA. 

“ | \ON’T you believe those youngsters have gone 

I J off on a lark, Mr. Lowington ? ” asked Judge 
Rodwood, after they had gone on shore at Funchal, 
on their arrival from Fayal in search of the missing 
steamer. 

“ I do not think so now, though such was my fear in 
the first of it,” replied the principal. 

They had been to the banker’s, and ascertained all 
they could about the Ville d’ Angers ; and were now on 
their way to the office of the consul. 

“I think it must be a great temptation to such 
young fellows as this O’Hara and Tom Speers,” added 
the judge. “ You say that the captain of the steamer 
has the absolute command of her.” 

“ He has in the absence of any vice-principal ; for 
it does not answer to place a landsman over a sailor at 
sea,” replied Mr. Lowington. “ But for all this, Capt. 
Fairfield, the instructor on board, would have influence 
enough to prevent the students from going off on a 
runaway excursion.” 

“ Frisbone would prevent it, if the instructor could 
not ; for he is a very decided man, and, if any thing is 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 


349 


wrong, he does not mind cutting through any amount 
of red tape.” 

“ As a rule, we have a stonger hold on these young 
men than mere force,” continued Mr. Lowington. 
“Take your ward, for instance: he is ambitious to 
obtain promotion ; and any thing in the shape of a 
lark would spoil all his chances. He was so interested 
in his future prospects in the Tritonia, that he has been 
running away from the vast fortune in store for him ; 
and certainly he would not peril all his hopes by enga- 
ging in a runaway expedition.” 

“But he is under the orders of this O’Hara.” 

“ And O’Hara is controlled by the same motives. 
My banker has inquired into the condition of the 
steamer, and ascertained that every thing was regular 
on board of her. The boat that brought the captain 
on shore lay at the landing-place two or three hours ; 
and I am told that not a seaman got out of it. That 
looks like discipline, which would not prevail if the 
officers and crew were on a lark.” 

“No doubt you are correct, Mr. Lowington. But it 
seems very strange to me, that my ward should prefer 
the strict discipline of one of your vessels to the 
freedom which I came out here to give him ; and I 
confess that I consider him ten times the man I sup- 
posed him to be when I left New York,” said Judge 
Rodwood. “As I said before, the Marian belonged to 
Mr. Speers, senior, and I intended to turn her over to 
my ward. You see, the young fellow will have an 
income of over two hundred thousand dollars a year as 
soon as he is of age ; and that will be in the course of 
six or eight months.” 


35 ° 


ISLES OF THE SEA ; OR, 


* £ Poor fellow ! ” said Mr. Lowington with a smile. 

“ As he is fond of the sea, I don’t suppose he can 
spend his money any better than in running this steam- 
yacht.” 

“ He is getting the right sort of experience now to 
enable him to handle her,” added Mr. Lowington, as 
they entered a hotel, on their way to the consul’s, to 
see if there were any familiar faces there. 

There was one familiar face there, and it belonged 
to one David Gregory. He was staying at the hotel 
with his English friends. All three of them sat at a 
table in the public room, drinking a bottle of wine 
together ; and the mutineer had already had enough to 
make him rather noisy. The principal immediately 
turned about so that the runaway did not see him, and 
led the way out of the hotel. 

“ What is the matter ? ” asked Judge Rodwood, when 
they were in the street. “ You act like a man who sees 
a hard creditor in the distance.” 

“ One of the young fellows you saw at the table 
drinking wine must have escaped from the Ville d’ An- 
gers when she was here,” replied Mr. Lowington. “ He 
was the first officer of the steamer, and the one who 
made the trouble of which we read in the English 
paper.” 

“ And what are you going to do about it ? ” inquired 
the judge. 

I shall have him locked up on board of the Ameri- 
can Prince. I see he has made friends here.” 

At the consul’s, the requisite arrangements were 
made for the arrest of Gregory, and a couple of officers 
were sent for that purpose. It was necessary for the 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 35 1 

principal to go with them to identify the fugitive. The 
party walked into the room where the merry party were 
still drinking. 

“ I think I shall be compelled to break up your 
party, Gregory,” said the principal in his mild way. 

The mutineer sprang to his feet as though a cannon 
had been discharged under his ear. Of course he had 
not expected the American Prince to return to the 
island, or even the Ville d’ Angers. It was no use to 
contend against the principal and the policemen, though 
Sir Philip Grayner was inclined to resist. 

“ Mr. Lowington, I tried to do my duty on board of 
the steamer ; and when O’Hara attempted to run away 
with the vessel, and make a voyage to England con- 
trary to his orders, I wanted to bring the steamer back. 
I failed, and here I am,” pleaded Gregory. 

“ I do not care to hear any explanation in this place. 
On board of the ship I will listen to all you have to 
say,” replied the principal. 

The officers sent him on board the Prince, where 
he was locked up in a suitable apartment under the 
charge of Peaks, the big boatswain of the vessel. The 
sprigs doubtless made their tour of the Isles of the 
Sea and of the United States ; but Gregory did not 
accompany them. 

On the day of the arrival of the Prince and the 
Marian, a clipper schooner came into the port from 
Teneriffe. She had put into Santa Cruz de Palma ; 
and Mr. Lowington had a long talk with her captain, 
who reported the Ville d’Angers as having sailed from 
the latter port on the 3d of the month, for the Cape 
Verds. The Spanish captain had been on board of 


35 2 


ISLES OF THE SEA j OR, 


the steamer ; and he declared that every thing was in 
perfect order. The students were studying and recit- 
ing. Capt. O’Hara was anxious to find the fleet. 

“Why did he go to the Cape Verds?” asked the 
principal. 

“Because this fleet was reported as having gone 
there,” replied the Spanish captain. 

If the steamer had gone to the Cape Verds, and 
every thing was in good order on board of her, it was 
no use to wait for her ; and the American Prince and 
the Marian sailed as soon as they could get up steam. 

On the 13th of the month they reached Fayal again, 
where the schooners were waiting for them. Gregory 
was sent on board of the Josephine as soon as the 
anchor of the Prince touched the rocks at the bottom. 
Mr. Fluxion received him with a smile, for discipline 
had been victorious in the end. All hands were called ; 
and the uniform was stripped from the recreant officer. 
Gregory attempted to excuse himself on the plea that 
Capt. O’Hara was running away with the steamer. 

“ All you had to do was to obey orders. But you 
did not believe that Capt. O’Hara was running away 
with the vessel : you knew better than this. Your 
number in the Josephine is 36 from this date,” said 
Mr. Fluxion sternly. “ But I will say to you, and to 
all, that the next promotions in all the vessels of the 
fleet will be made by the results of an examination to 
be held on the 1st of June. Whatever place you win, 
you shall have at that time, though your demerits for 
conduct will be considered in making the award.” 

The fleet at once departed for the Bermudas. The 
wind was fair, and the weather generally good, with the 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 


3S3 


exception of a gale, and a two-days’ fog, so that the 
schooners made the passage in ten days. The fleet 
kept together all the way, and sighted St. David’s 
Head at the same time. This is the north-eastern 
point of the islands, off which the pilots cruise in good 
weather, and near which are the two eastern passages 
into the inner waters, enclosed by an almost continuous 
reef to the northward and westward of the islands. 
Each vessel took a pilot, and, going through narrow 
channels between the reefs, came into the harbor of 
St. George, the most northern town in the islands. 

“ Hurrah ! hurrah ! hurrah ! ” came from a steamer 
at anchor, as the Prince went across her bow. 

“ What’s that ? ” asked the principal. 

“ It must be the truant steamer,” replied Dr. Win- 
stock. 

“ Three cheers for the Tritonia ! ” shouted a voice 
on board of the steamer, as the vessel indicated came 
into the harbor. 

“ The Ville d’Angers has got here before us,” said 
Mr. Pelham. “ She must have passed us in that fog.” 

“ Three cheers for the Marian ! ” called Capt. 
O’Hara, as the beautiful steam-yacht came into view. 

They were all given with a will ; and there could be 
no doubt the students on board were glad to see their 
shipmates after the long separation. In a short time 
the vessels of the fleet were anchored, and the boats 
began to drop from the davits into the water. 

“ Arrah, Tom, my darlint ! your guardian has caught 
you at last ! ” exclaimed O’Hara, when he saw the barge 
of the Marian approaching the steamer. 

“ I shall be as resigned as possible to my fate,” 
replied Tom, 


354 


ISLES OF THE SEA; OR, 


“To the millions of money, you mane !” 

“ I shall not quarrel with that.” 

“ If you fall out with it, remimber your best frind.” 

“ I shall certainly do that, my dear fellow, whatever 
happens to me. But I shall not leave the squadron if 
I can help it.” 

“ Faix, I hope you won’t while I am in it!” added 
Capt. O’Har?, grasping the hand of the second officer. 
“ But here comes his honor the judge. Be ready for 
him, Tom, and trate him loike a gintleman.” 

“ I shall certainly do that,” replied Tom, as he went 
to the gangway, where the steps had already been 
rigged, though the steamer had been in port but a few 
hours. 

“Which is my boy?” demanded the judge, as he 
came on deck. 

“ Here he is,” replied O’Hara, pointing out the 
second officer. 

“Tom, my lad, I am delighted to see you, after wan- 
dering all over the ocean in search of you ! ” exclaimed 
Judge Rodwood, grasping both the hands of his ward, 
and giving him a very affectionate greeting. “What 
do you mean by running away from me ? ” 

“ I am very glad to see you, sir ; though I do not 
want to be taken out of the squadron,” replied Tom, 
who found the judge a very different person from what 
he had anticipated. 

He was not a bit like the stern judge he had fancied; 
and he could not help liking him at first sight. 

“You can stay in the squadron till your head is as 
white as mine, if you like, my lad,” protested the 
guardian warmly. “The Marian, which is not a very 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 


355 


ugly craft, is your property, or will be in a few months ; 
and I didn’t know but you might like to make a cruise 
in her. Do as you please, however.” 

“That alters the case,” replied Tom, laughing, and 
bestowing an admiring glance upon the beautiful steam- 
yacht. “ But I think I should like to remain a while 
longer.” 

By this time the principal and the two vice-principals 
were on board. They greeted the captain with great 
heartiness ; and it was clear enough that he was not 
under the displeasure of the authorities. O’Hara made 
his report in full on the spot, detailing all the incidents 
of the cruise. He sent for the log-books kept by all 
the officers, and submitted them for examination. The 
captain had the satisfaction of having his management 
of the steamer approved. 

The meeting between Mr. Frisbone and the princi- 
pal was a very interesting event; and the ship’s com- 
pany of the Ville d’Angers understood its meaning so 
well, that they involuntarily gave three cheers as the 
two gentlemen joined hands on the deck. 

“Your boys have been the salvation of myself and 
those I care a good deal more for than I do for myself, 
Mr. Lowington ! ” exclaimed the prince ; and the tears 
gathered in his eyes as he spoke. 

“ I am glad that they have been of service to you,” 
replied the principal, as they retired to the cabin to see 
the ladies. 

“That Tom Speers, who is worth three millions of 
dollars now, would weigh down the whole of the money 
in gold,” continued the Prince ; and he proceeded to 
tell the story of Tom’s noble conduct in saving the 
life of Miss Rodwood. 


356 ISLES OF THE SEA j OR, 

“ I hope the money that comes to him will not spoil 
him. He had been brought up in poverty ; and the 
change may turn his head,” added the principal. 

“ Not a. bit of it ! ” exclaimed Mr. Frisbone. “Tom’s 
head is not one of the sort to be turned by money, or 
any thing else. He will do more good with that fortune 
than his uncle ever did ; and I thank God it has fallen 
into good hands.” 

“ Let us hope so.” 

“ And believe so ; for I know the young man through 
and through.” 

“This is a fine steamer you have, Mr. Frisbone,” 
added the principal, looking about the cabin. 

“ It is a fine steamer you have, Mr. Lowington,” 
yelled the Prince, in his loudest tone. “ She belongs 
to you, every timber and bolt in her ! she was saved by 
your boys, or she would have gone to the bottom. 
More than this, I have a considerable sum of money 
from the salvage of the Castle William, which I shall 
pay over to you, deducting the expenses I have incurred 
in fitting up the ship, coaling and provisioning her.” 

The Prince produced his accounts, and insisted upon 
paying over his balance in sovereigns to the principal ; 
who received it under protest. 

“ What shall I do with the steamer ? ” asked Mr. 
Lowington. 

“Use her instead of them two topsail schooners!” 
screamed the Prince, as he always did when he had a 
bright idea. 

“ In due time we will consider that question. Now 
you are almost back to New York, where you started 
from ; and I understand that you were in quest of 
health for your wife’s sister.” 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 


357 


“ That’s so ; but I don’t think any thing particular 
ails her now. We have given her something to think 
about all the time ; and I guess she is pretty much 
cured now. I shall spend the winter in that place on 
the back side of "the peak of Teneriffe ; and if I get 
there by the ist of December, it will be soon enough.” 

“ Then this steamer must convey you to your destina- 
tion,” said the principal. 

“ Well, I sha’n’t mind staying with you all summer, 
if you don’t object. This sort of life agrees with my 
wife and her sister, now they have got used to it ; and 
I don’t get sea-sick myself.” 

The rest of the day was spent in exchanging visits 
between the vessels ; and not much study was done. 
The Prince and his ladies visited the Marian and the 
American Prince. Tom Speers went with them ; for it 
could not be denied that he was a prime favorite with 
the ladies, and .especially with Miss Louise. Clinch 
was sent back to the Josephine, and became No. 35. 

The next morning, when things had settled down 
again, the signal for the lecture was displayed on board 
of the American Prince. The grand saloon of the 
steamer was crowded on this occasion, for all the pas- 
sengers, officers, and engineers of the Marian and the 
Ville d’ Angers were present. 

“ Before the professor begins his lecture, I wish to 
say that all the offices of the squadron will be given 
out in accordance with the results of an examination 
to be conducted at Hamilton, beginning on the ist of 
June. It will include all branches of study and seaman- 
ship ; and the marks for conduct will be added to the 
result of the examination,” said the principal. “ I am 


358 ISLES OF THE SEA ; OR, 

sorry I was not able to give this notice to the ship’s 
company of the Tritonia omthe 1st of May, as I did in 
the other vessels.” 

“ But we all knew there was to be a new method 
adopted ; and some of us were sure it was to be an ex- 
amination,” added O’Hara, when he had obtained per- 
mission to speak. 

“ So much the better if you understood the matter. 
I will add that we have another vessel to officer, and 
that the examination will be general ; that is, the offices 
will be assigned throughout the squadron, instead of 
confining the result to a single vessel. The one who 
stands highest will have his choice of all the places in 
the squadron ; and so on till all the positions are given 
out. I wish you all to consider the subject during the 
next week, so that you can choose your places without 
any delay. I have adopted this method, after consult- 
ing the faculty, rather because it affords a little variety 
than because it is a superior plan to the one we have 
been using.” 

The principal retired, and Professor Mapps took his 
place before the chart he had made of the Bermudas. 

“ These islands are different in many respects from 
any you have yet visited,” the professor began. “ They 
are coralline, — the most northerly of this type in the 
world. The rock formed is a gray limestone, which is 
very soft. They are in latitude thirty-two, twenty ; and 
in longitude sixty-four, fifty. The group consists of 
five principal islands, and about five hundred small 
ones, varying in size from a few square feet up to a 
square mile in extent. The largest island is Bermuda, 
which is fifteen miles long, and occupies the most 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 


359 


southern position in the group. On it is Hamilton, 
the capital. The land on our starboard side, where 
you see the town, is St. George, three miles and a half 
in length ; on the other side of us is St. David’s, about 
two and a half miles long. The other two are in the 
south-west, Somerset and Ireland, each two or three 
miles in length. None of the islands are more than two 
miles wide, and in some places you can hardly choose 
on which side you would fall overboard. The group is 
twenty miles long ; and they contain only twenty-four 
square miles of land, with a population of about twelve 
thousand. More than half of the people are negroes. 

“ There are few wells, or at least few that produce 
good water. You observe that the houses in the town 
of St. George are all white or nearly so, including the 
roofs. They have not been whitewashed, as you may 
suppose ; but they are plastered. This is done to keep 
them clean ; for all the water used is gathered on them, 
and kept in cisterns or tanks. Where large quantities 
are required, and the roofs do not afford a sufficient 
supply, portions of the hillside are plastered in the 
same manner, and the water that is collected on them 
is saved. The water from the clouds is the purest that 
can be had, if it can be kept free from impurities after 
it falls. 

“ Agriculture, possibly for the want of labor, is in a 
very backward state. The negroes are not disposed to 
work any more than enough to procure the bare neces- 
sities of life. You will see little patches of ground 
spaded up, for they don’t often use the plough, as the 
irregular surface of the land hardly admits it in man) 
places. But it is remarkably fertile and productive 


3 6 ° 


ISLES OF THE SEA ; OR, 


It yields three crops a year of vegetables, which find 
a ready market in the neighboring ports of the United 
States, only six to seven hundred miles distant. The 
exports of the Bermudas amount to about three hun- 
dred and fifty thousand dollars a year. There is a 
regular steamer to and from New York, but the gov- 
ernment has to subsidize the company that runs it. 

“ This is a very important naval and military station 
of Great Britain, with extensive magazines and store- 
houses. On the island of Ireland is a dock-yard, pro- 
vided with a floating dry dock, built of iron in England, 
and towed out to the islands. As a naval and mili- 
tary station, the islands are said to be second only to 
Malta. On account of this interest, the governor, 
whose authority is little less than supreme, is appointed 
by the crown of .England ; and the incumbent is inva- 
riably a man of great ability. The two branches of the 
Legislature are the House of Assembly, which is the 
popular body, elected by the people of the parishes, 
and the Council, nominated to the crown by the govern- 
or. Though white and black are allowed to vote, 
there are three times as many voters of the former as 
of the latter. The voter must own real estate to the 
amount of sixty pounds ; and he must have four times 
this amount before he can be a member of the House 
of Assembly. No negro has ever been elected to this 
office. 

“ The climate may be said to be delightful ; and as 
a rule the islands are very healthy. When the yellow 
fever and other diseases have prevailed here as epidem- 
ics, it has been entirely owing to the lack of propel 
drainage, and the neglect of other sanitary measures 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 


361 


The mercury rarely goes above eighty-five or below 
forty ; and the average is about seventy. It hardly 
compares with Orotava, and it is too damp for most 
pulmonary affections. 

“ I will conclude this brief talk with a word about 
the history of the islands. They get their name from 
a Spaniard by the name of Juan Bermudez, who dis- 
coverd them about four hundred years ago. But it was 
not settled by the Spaniards. Very likely the roving 
buccaneers of the Spanish main had temporary homes 
here ; and there are stories of vast wealth hidden by 
these worthies. When the more modern settlers took 
possession of it, they found hogs in vast numbers, 
though the islands were uninhabited ; and there were 
many evidences of the visits of human beings. 

“In 1609, not long after the first settlement of Vir- 
ginia, a vessel called the Sea Adventure was fitted out 
in England to convey Sir Thomas Gates, just appointed 
governor of the Virginia Colony, Admiral Sir George 
Somers, and other officials, to the scene of their future 
labors. This vessel went with a fleet, loaded with 
colonists and supplies for the new home in Virginia. 
In a terrible storm, the Sea Adventure was separated 
from the rest of the fleet, and was wrecked on the 
Bermudas. After suffering great hardships, the ship- 
wrecked party reached the shores of these islands with- 
out the loss of a single life. The voyagers found plenty 
of turtle, fish, and fruit in the island, as well as a most 
delicious climate ; and they were so well pleased with 
the paradise they had found, that they did not attempt 
to get away for a year. At the end of this time they 
had built a vessel, in which they embarked for Virginia, 


3 6 2 


ISLES OF THE SEA ; OR, 


and reached their destination in safety. But the colony 
were in the utmost need of supplies, being almost in a 
state of starvation. In this emergency Sir George 
Somers, who is represented as a noble and unselfish 
man, willing to peril his life for the salvation of others, 
procuring a party of volunteers to accompany him, 
sailed for the Bermudas to obtain a supply of provis- 
ions from that land, ‘ flowing with milk and honey.’ 
Unhappily he died when his vessel reached the locality 
where we now are ; and after him this island was called 
St. George, though I cannot say when or how he hap- 
pened to be canonized. After him also the scene of 
his death received the name of the ‘ Somers Islands,’ 
as they are often called. The colonists reported so 
favorably, that settlements were commenced in 1612 ; 
and the islands have been under the British Govern- 
ment since that time.” 

The professor finished his remarks, and the students 
hastened on shore for the first time. 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 


CHAPTER XXVI. 

YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 

“ r I "'HE professor did not say this used to be called 
X ‘ The Isle of Devils,’ ” said Dr. Winstock, when 
he seated himself in the stern-sheets of the captain’s 
gig, with Sheridan and Murray. “ It was so called 
because it was such a terrible place for shipwrecks. 
But the science of navigation had not been carried to 
such perfection in those days as at present.” 

“ This is a queer old place,” said Murray, when he 
had obtained a view of the town. 

“ It is not a very progressive place ; and things 
appear here pretty much as they did a hundred years 
ago. The houses are of the fashion of the past ; and 
I have no doubt that some of them are over a century 
old. But this is a beautiful harbor ; and you will be 
delighted when you get on the top of some hill, to see 
the panorama spread out before you. The views in the 
Bermudas are peculiar. The little islands look like so 
many green hillocks rising out of the water ; and much 
of the scenery is quite rugged. There is an island off 
there, with a little white cottage upon it. For my part, 
I think there is nothing more lovely in the world ; and 
if we could have the society of the States, as they call 


3 6 4 


ISLES OF THE SEA J OR, 


our country, I should spend the rest of my days 
here.” 

The party landed from the boat, and Wainwright 
and Scott joined them. They walked into the town, 
taking a general view of it. The houses seem to be 
scattered about without any regard to order. 

“This reminds me of the town of Gosport on the 
Isles of Shoals, before the hand of improvement 
touched it,” said the surgeon. “ Every man built his 
house where he chose, without heeding any possibility 
of streets in the present or the future. Here is a pretty 
cottage with its front garden bordered by a laborer’s 
hovel. During our war a great deal of business was 
done here in blockade-running ; but it don’t appear to 
be very driving in any thing now.” 

A short time exhausted the streets, or rather lanes, of 
the town. It contains between two and three thousand 
inhabitants. The business men rarely live in either 
St. George or Hamilton, the only towns in the islands ; 
but, when the work of the day is ended, they drive or 
sail away to their cottages on the islands. 

All around St. George are forts to defend the only 
practicable entrance for large vessels to the interior 
sea, about twenty-five miles by ten, enclosed by the 
reefs, in which there are only a few openings, so intri- 
cate and dangerous that they can be navigated only by 
the most skilful pilots. 

The doctor’s party walked to Cherry-stone Hill, 
about a mile from the town, which commanded a view 
of the islands to the eastward, the forts, and the harbor. 
They sat there for hours, enjoying the prospect of sea 
and land, and the delicious air of the place. 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 365 

The next morning the entire squadron, in charge of 
the pilots, sailed for Hamilton, the capital, where the 
principal intended to remain for two or three weeks. 
On the passage, which is about fifteen miles around, 
through Grassy Bay and Great Sound, up to the head 
of a considerable inlet, where the capital is situated, 
the students obtained a full view of the dock-yard and 
floating dock, which contained a large man-of-war at 
the time, and of the great store-houses. On the other 
side, near the shore, at the back of the town, was the 
governor’s house. Threading their way among the 
multitude of islands, the fleet reached its destination, 
and anchored in front of the town. It is built on the 
gentle slope of the hills ; and, with its white-roofed 
buildings, presents a very neat and pretty appearance. 

The students were permitted to go on shore as soon 
as every thing had been made snug on board the ves- 
sels. In half an hour more they were wandering 
through its streets. But there was really little in the 
place to see ; and, as it contains only two thousand 
inhabitants, it was soon exhausted. 

After dinner, the doctor and his party took carriages 
for a drive. Tom Speers and O’Hara, with Miss 
Louise, the Prince and his wife, formed another party. 
These excursions were repeated every afternoon for a 
week. They visited the southern part of the island of 
Bermuda, where a hill nearly four hundred feet high 
afforded them a magnificent view of Port Royal Bay 
and Great Sound, both sheets of water packed with 
islands. On some of them are the neat white cottages 
one sees all over the main islands. In the vicinity of 
Hamilton there are many more pretentious buildings ) 


3 66 


ISLES OF THE SEA ; OR, 


but these little country places are the charm of the 
landscape. Though some of these structures are very 
old, they seem to be in good repair ; for there is no 
freezing in the winter to throw a building out of shape, 
or settle the foundation unequally in different places. 

“ I see they keep all sorts of animals tied up in this 
country,” said Murray, as the party were out on one of 
these drives. “ There are some hens moored by the 
leg.” 

“ You see these little gardens in all parts of the 
islands. They are fenced in with oleander ; but a 
couple of those hens could ruin the hopes of the gar- 
dener, after he has planted his onion-seed, or prepared 
his arrow-root plantation. For this reason all the 
domestic animals that live out doors are tied to keep 
them out of mischief,” replied the doctor. “ Our first 
onions and tomatoes usually come from these islands.” 

Sometimes the drive was taken in the opposite 
direction, towards St. George. Speare and Paynter 
Hills, in the vicinity of Harrington Sound, afforded the 
excursionists the desired views of the country. The 
sound is a beautiful sheet of water. The scenery all 
around it is enchanting ; and there were any number 
of bowers in the dense growth of tropical trees and 
shrubs, which were full of interest to the wanderers 
from the sea. 

There is no end of caves in the limestone rock ; 
and caves are a positive glory to boys. Tom Moore 
lived for a time in this island, and wrote poetry, invest' 
ing the locality with romance and sentiment; and 
Moore’s “calabash-tree” is still a favorite resort to the 
visitor. Devil’s Hole, or, more poetically, Neptune’s 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 367 

Grotto, is a rocky abyss filled with clear water, and has 
an underground connection with the sea. 

“ How full of fish it is ! ” exclaimed Sheridan, as he 
discovered that the water was alive with several varie- 
ties of fish. 

“ This is used to keep the fish caught in other wa- 
ters, at the proper season, to be taken from this store- 
house when they are not available elsewhere,” answered 
the surgeon. “You will find a great many ponds in 
Bermuda applied to this use. You have observed how 
clear the water is.” 

“ Isn’t this a capital road ? ” said Wainwright, as 
the carriage moved on towards Hamilton. 

“You will find such in all countries where the Eng- 
lish people have lived long enough to make them. 
There are a hundred and fifty miles of these good 
hard roads in the twenty -four square miles of the 
Bermudas. You see they have to be cut through the 
rock in some places,” said the doctor, as the carriage 
passed through such a cutting, the walls on both sides 
being covered with vines, and with an abundance of 
plants growing out of the interstices. 

Dr. Winstock botanized somewhat with those of his 
charge who had a taste for the study ; and there was 
abundant material to illustrate the subject. The road 
all along from the Sound to Hamilton was bordered 
with flowers ; and when the party stopped at a house, 
to look af its wealth of floral treasures, it was not unus- 
ual for the courteous inhabitants to come out, and invite 
them to enter the grounds, or to accept a hastily gath- 
ered bouquet. Indeed, nothing could exceed the cour- 
tesy and kindness of the people in town and country. 


3 68 


ISLES OF THE SEA j OR, 


They all seemed to be interested in the students, and 
especially in the ladies from the Ville d’ Angers. 

The excursions were not confined to those made in 
carriages. The students were roaming all over the 
islands, during the afternoons, which were wholly given 
up to sight - seeing. All could not afford carriages; 
and there were not enough of them to supply all, even 
if money had been plenty with them. Most of the 
boys walked ; and in their rambles they had a deal of 
fun among themselves, and with the multitude of 
negroes that collected whenever the young tars were 
engaged in a frolic. 

Quite as pleasant as the rides in the carriages were 
the excursions made in the boats of the fleet. On one 
occasion all the boats of the squadron, sixteen in 
number, made an excursion to the dock-yard. In the 
waters of Grassy Bay they gave an exhibition of the 
skill of the students in handling the cutters, which 
drew cheers of approbation from the naval officers and 
others who witnessed it. When the display was over, 
the boats’ crew visited the dock-yard, and one of the 
men-of-war in port. They were courteously shown all 
over the yard, and the operation of the floating-dock 
was explained to them. 

On the last day of the month the fleet left the harbor 
of Hamilton, and sought an anchorage in a retired 
bay, about three miles from the town. Here the 
squadron was entirely landlocked, and the water was 
as smooth as a millpond. The four academical craft 
were moored alongside each other, so that the pro- 
fessors could pass from one to the others without the 
use of the boats. Early in the morning the examination 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 369 

was begun. It was continued for three days ; but it 
was understood that the result would give the officers 
and students their positions for three months, instead 
of one as before ; for such a thorough examination was 
not possible more than once in a quarter. 

All the ambitious students had been at work very 
diligently for the last two months, preparing for this 
great event. Tom Speers and Capt. O’Hara had given 
very little time to frolic and sight-seeing during the 
time the fleet had been at the Bermudas ; but had been 
studying night and day. The officers of the American 
Prince had not been so diligent ; for most of them had 
held their positions so long that they felt almost sure 
of them in the future, whatever system of promotions 
might be adopted. 

On the morning of the fourth day, all hands were 
mustered under the awnings on the deck of the Ameri- 
can Prince to learn the result of the examination. The 
principal took the rostrum which had been built for 
this occasion ; and an anxious silence followed his 
appearance. He held in his hand the paper on which 
the fate of every officer and seaman was written down. 

“ Young gentlemen,” Mr. Lowington began, “ I am 
well aware that the changes proposed to-day will amount 
to a revolution. About the middle of the month, after 
the new crews of the several vessel have been trained 
to their duties under the different order of things, the 
squadron will sail for Brockway, the former headquarters 
of the fleet. When we have obtained a new register 
for the Ville d’Angers, she will be called the Frisbone.” 

In spite of the anxiety that pervaded the' audience 
of the principal, this announcement was received with 


370 ISLES OF THE SEA j OR, 

the most tremendous applause. The Prince, who was 
present with his wife and Miss Louise, felt called upon 
to make a speech, acknowledging the honor conferred 
upon him. He would rather have his name on the 
stern of a vessel used for the purpose to which the 
“ Frisbone ” was to be applied, than on that of the 
biggest ocean steamer that could bear it to the most 
remote regions of the earth. 

“ The Frisbone will take the place of the Josephine 
and the Tritonia, after she has been properly fitted for 
the purpose. With the two steamers, which will not 
have to wait for any sailing-vessels, we may make a 
voyage around the world ; for I intend to re-organize 
the squadron, on a much more extensive plan of study. 
But this will not be done till the end of the quarter 
upon which we have now begun. 

“The Frisbone will now be officered in the same 
manner as the schooner, with a captain, four lieuten- 
ants, and four masters. The office of purser and mid- 
shipman on board of the Prince will be abolished, so 
that there will be only nine cabin officers on board of 
each vessel. The two engineers of the Frisbone will 
be relieved from further duty in that department. The 
Prince will have forty-eight petty officers and seamen, 
and each of the other vessels thirty-six. Since the 
late Commodore Cantwell left the academy squadron, 
the office he held has not been filled, for the reason 
that those who came out the highest preferred the more 
active position of captain. We shall in future dispense 
with this ornamental figure-head. 

“ In addition to the choice of offices, each student 
will be entitled to elect in which of the four vessels he 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 


371 


will serve for the coming quarter, until the comple- 
ments are complete. Some exchanges may be allowed 
in the end, for I am not disposed to separate friends 
unnecessarily ; but all such must be on equal terms, 
and by agreement between those exchanged.” 

The principal paused to put on his glasses, and the 
students improved the opportunity to applaud the plan 
laid down. 

“The first name on the list is Sheridan,” continued 
Mr. Lowington ; and the usual demonstration when 
popular officers obtained good positions was made. 
“ Capt. Sheridan, I congratulate you on the high rank 
you have won ; and you have the right to choose any 
position in the fleet.” 

“I prefer to remain where I am,” replied Sheridan. 
And Mr. Pelham made a record of his choice 

“ The next name is that of Thomas Speers,” said Mr. 
Lowington. 

The announcement seemed to create as much sur- 
prise as when the same name had been mentioned in 
the harbor of Gibraltar, two months before. But all 
the ship’s company of the Ville d’Angers manifested 
a tremendous enthusiasm. 

“Good boy, darlint ! ” screamed O’Hara, grasping 
Tom’s hand, and wringing it with hearty good-will. 
“ That’s what all your hard study manes ; and I rather 
you had this place than have it myself.” 

“ What place do you elect ? ” asked the principal. 

“ I am sure you will come next, and I shall take the 
position of first lieutenant of our steamer”’ whispered 
Tom to his late captain. 

“ Bother with you ! don’t do any thing of the sort ! 


37 2 


ISLES OF THE SEA ; OR, 


my name may not come till the fortieth, and then where 
shall we be ? ” protested O’Hara. “ He will take the 
place of captain of the Frisbone,” he added, turning to 
the principal. 

“You must speak for yourself, Mr. Speers,” said the 
principal, with a smile. 

“ Will you tell me what name comes next on the list, 
Mr. Lowington ? ” asked Tom. 

“ I cannot do that,” replied the principal, shaking his 
head. “And I hope no student will give way for another.” 

“ Captain of the Frisbone,” replied Tom, who would 
gladly have given up the position in favor of O’Hara. 

Wainwright came in third, and selected his present 
office in the Tritonia. 

“ O’Hara is the fourth on the list,” the principal pro- 
ceeded. 

Tom Speers engineered a very warm demonstration 
in favor of his friend, when the announcement was made, 
as O’Hara had done when his own was mentioned. 

“ I am knocked out of my place ! ” exclaimed Vroome, 
the captain of the Josephine. 

But O’Hara, without an instant’s hesitation, selected 
the position of first lieutenant of the Frisbone, and then 
he wanted to hug Tom. 

" Murray,” read the principal from the list. 

The Josephines shook again; but Murray preferred 
his old place as first lieutenant of the Prince, for he 
and the captain were very dear friends, and were 
alwaj's together with the doctor when they went on 
shore. Vroome fortunately came next, and the Joseph- 
ines were put out of misery. 

The principal went through the list, and it was found 


YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. 


373 


by the students, that the officers were not very different 
from what they had been before, except in the few cases 
where extraordinary efforts had been made. With 
hardly an exception, they preferred to remain in the 
vessels they had belonged to before. Scott came out 
third lieutenant of the Tritonia, and Blair recovered 
his lost place in the cabin, Richards having fallen out 
of it. Gregory and Clinch were seamen, and chose to 
serve in the Prince. 

“ Tom Speers, you are ten times the man I took you 
to be,” said Judge Rodwood, grasping the hand of his 
ward, when he got near enough to him to do so. “ I 
am sure your uncle’s fortune, or that part of it that 
came to you, will go to-the right place. I congratulate 
you, Capt. Speers, and I know you are worthy of the 
place you have won.” 

“ Thank you, sir,” replied Tom, glowing with excite- 
ment. “ I set out for the position, or one just like it, 
and I have got it. Of course you will not expect me 
to leave the squadron now ? ” 

“ Certainly not ; but as soon as you are twenty-one I 
shall hand the Marian over to you ; and any time 
before that, when you choose to leave the command of 
the Frisbone, she is at your service.” 

Capt. Speers decided not to make any use of her at 
present. In the afternoon the new officers were put 
into position on board of the vessels of the fleet. 
Tom took possession of the captain’s cabin ; and 
O’Hara “ gushed ” all the afternoon, he was so pleased 
with the present order of things on board. 

On the 15th of the month, the fleet, including the 
Marian, sailed for Brockway. After a pleasant June 
passage, the vessels arrived. 


374 


ISLES OF THE SEA. 


And now, having taken the academy squadron twice 
across the Atlantic, our series of stories comes to an 
end. In the course of the summer the principal re- 
organized his squadron, as he had intended. In 
November Tom Speers, as captain of the Frisbone, as 
she was now legally named, conveyed Mr. Frisbone, 
his wife, her sister, and Dr. Phelps, to Orotava, in the 
island of Teneriffe, where they had decided to spend 
the winter. When he had landed his passengers, he 
sailed for Havana, where the American Prince was to 
join him ; and the two vessels were to spend the winter 
in the West Indies. 

Early in the spring the two steamers went to the 
Canaries again ; where a happy meeting between Tom 
and Miss Louise occurred, and it was rumored that 
they were in very great peril of becoming more nearly 
related in a few months or years. At this point Tom con- 
cluded, that, as he was twenty-one, he would retire from 
the command, and go on a cruise in the Marian. The 
last we heard of him, he was in the China Sea, with 
O’Hara, who had graduated in the fall of the same 
year as Tom, still sticking to him like a brother. The 
young millionnaire does not spend all his income upon 
himself, and the poor and the needy have good reason 
to thank God that old Tom Speers gave half of his 
colossal fortune to his nephew. 

Having taken our readers all over Europe, we bid 
them all good-by as we step ashore from our voyage 
among “The Isles of the Sea.” 


OUVBR OPTICS BOOKS 


All-Over-tlie- World Library. By Oliver Optic. First Series. 
Illustrated. Price per volume, $1.25. 

1. A Missing Million; or, The Adventures of Louis Belgrade. 

2. A Millionaire at Sixteen $ or, The Cruise of the “ Guardian 

Mother.” 

d. A Young Knight Errant; or, Cruising in the West Indies. 
4. Strange Sights Abroad; or, Adventures in European Waters. 

No author has come before the public during the present generation who 
has achieved a larger and more deserving popularity among young people than 
“ Oliver Optic.” His stories have been very numerous, but they have been 
'uniformly excellent in moral tone and literary quality. As indicated in the 
general title, it is the author’s intention to conduct the readers of this enter- 
tainiug series “ around the world.” As a means to this end, the hero of the 
story purchases a steamer which he names the “ Guardian Mother,” and 
with a number of guests she proceeds on her voyage. — Christian Work, N. Y. 


AJl-Over-the- World Library. By Oliver Optic. Second 

Series. Illustrated. Price per volume, $1.25. 

1. American Boys Afloat ; or. Cruising in the Orient. 

2* The Young Navigators 5 or, The Foreign Cruise of thh 
“ Maud.” 

3* Up and Down the Nile ; or, Young Adventurers in Africa. 
<4,. Asiatic Breezes; or, Students on the Wing. 

The interest in these stories is continuous, and there is a great variety ol 
exciting incident woven into the solid information which the book imparts so 
generously and without the slightest suspicion of dryness. Manly boys 
will welcome this volume as cordially as they did its predecessors. — Boston 
Gazette. 


Ml-Over-the- World Library, By Oliver Optic. Third Sc* 

ries. Illustrated. Price per volume, $1.25. 

1. Across India ; or, Live Boys in the Far East. 

2. Half Round the World ; or, Among the Uncivilized. 

3. Four Young Explorers ; or, Sight-Seeing in the Tropics, 

4. Pacific Shores ; or, Adventures in Eastern Seas. 

Amid such new and varied surroundings it would be surprising indeed if the 
author, with his faculty of making even the commonplace attractive, did not 
tell an intensely interesting story of adventure, as well as give much informa- 
tion in regard to the distant countries through which our friends pass, and 
the strange peoples with whom they are brought in contact. This book, and 
indeed the whole series, is admirably adapted to reading aloud in the family 
circle, each volume containing matter which will interest all the members ai 
the family. — Boston Budget. 

£E AMO SHEPARD, BOSTON, SENO THEIR COMPLETE CATALOGUE FREE, 


OLIVER OPTIC’S BOOKS 


ffhe Blue and the Gray — Afloat. By Oliver Optic. Six 

volumes. Illustrated. Beautiful binding in blue and gray c 
with emblematic dies. Cloth. Any volume sold separately. 
Brice per volume, $1.50. 

1. Taken by the Enemy. 4. Stand by the Union. 

8. Within the Enemy’s Lines. 5. righting for the Eight. 

3. Oil the Blockade. - 6. A Victorious Union. 

The Blue and the Gray — on Band. 

- 1. Brother against Brother. 4. On the Staff. 

8. In the Saddle. 5. At the Front. 

3. A Lieutenant at Eighteen. 6. An Undivided Union. 

•* There never has been a more interesting writer in the field of juvenile 
Kterature than Mr. W. T. Adams, who, under his well-known pseudonym, is 
known and admired by every boy and girl in the country, and by thousands 
who have .long since passed the boundaries of youth, yet who remember with 
pleasure the genial, interesting pen that did so much to interest, instruct, and 
entertain their younger years. ‘The Blue and the Gray’ is a title that is suf- 
ficiently indicative of the nature and spirit of the latest series, while the name 
of Oliver Optic is sufficient warrant of the absorbing style of narrative. This 
series is as bright and entertaining as any work that M . Adams has yet puf 
forth, and will be as eagerly perused as any that has borne his name. If would 
not be fair to the prospective reader to deprive him of the zest which comes 
from the unexpected by entering into a synopsis of the story. A word, how- 
ever, should be said in regard to the beauty and appropriateness of the binding, 
which makes it a most attractive volume.” — Boston Budget. 

Woodville Stories. By Oliver Optic. Six volumes. Illus- 
trated. Any volume sold separately. Price pe volume, $1.25. 

1. Rich and Humble; or, The Mission of Bertha Grant. 

8. In School and Out; or, The Conquest of Richard Grant. 

3. Watch and Wait; or, The Young Fugitives. 

4. Work and Win; or, Noddy Newman on a Cruise. 

5. Hope and Have; or, Fanny Grant among the Indians 

6. Haste and Waste; or, The Young Pilot of Lake Champlain. 
Though we are not so young as we once were, we relished these stories 

almost as much as the boys and girls for whom they were written. They we r .t 
really refreshing, even to us. There is much in them which is calculated la 
inspire a generous, healthy ambition, and to make distasteful all reading tend- 
ing to stimulate base desires.” — Fitchburg Reveille. 

The Starry Flag* Series. By Oliver Optic. In six volumes. 
Illustrated. Any volume sold separately. Price per volume, 
$1.25. 

1. The Starry Flag; or, The Young Fisherman of Cape Ann. 

8. Breaking Away; or, The Fortunes of a Student. 

3. Seek and Find; or, The Adventures of a Smart Boy. 

4. Freaks of Fortune; or, Half round the World. 

5. Make or Break; or, The Rich Man’s Daughter. 

6. Down the River; or, Buck Bradford and the Tyrants. 

**'Mr. Adams, the celebrated and popular writer, familiarly known as Oliver 

Optic, seems to have inexhaustible funds for weaving together the virtues of 
life; and, notwithstanding he has written scores of books, the same fresuness 
and novelty run through them all. Some people think the sensational element 
predominates. Perhaps it does. But a book for young people needs this, and 
SO long as good sentiments are inculcated such books ought to be read.” 

LEE AND SHEPARD, BOSTON, SEND TiiEIA COMPLETE CATALOGUE FREE. 


OLIVER OPTIC’S BOOKS 


Array and ]STavy Stories. By Oliver Optic. Six volumes. 
Illustrated. Any volume sold separately. Price per volume, 
$i -v 

1. The Soldier Boy; or, Tom Somers in the Army. 

fic The Sailor Boy; or, Jack Somers in the Navy. 

3. The Young Lieutenant; or, Adventures of an Army Officer. 

4. The Yankee Middy; or, Adventures of a Navy Officer. 

5. Fighting Joe; or, The Fortunes of a Staff Officer. 

6. Brave Old Salt; or, Life on the Quarter Deck. 

“ This series of six volumes recounts the adventures of two brothers, Tom 
and Ja^k Somers, one in the armv, the other in the navy, in the great Civil War. 
The romantic narratives of ihe fortunes and exploits of the brothers are thrill-! 
ing in the extreme. Historical accuracy in the recital of the great events of 
that period is strictly followed, and the result is, not only a library of entertain- 
ing volumes, but also the best history of the Civil War for young people ever 
written.” 


Boat-Builders Series. By Oliver Optic. In six volumes. 
Illustrated. Any volume sold separately. Price per volume, 
$1.25. 

1. All Adrift; or, The Goldwing Club. 

2 . Snug Harbor; or, The Champlain Mechanics. 

3. Square and Compasses; or, Building the House. 

4. Stem to Stern; or, Building the Boat. 

5. All Taut; or, Rigging the Boat. 

6. Keady About; or, Sailing the Boat. 

“ The series includes in six successive volumes the whole art of boat building, 
boat rigging, boat managing, and practical hints to make the ownership of a 
boat pay. A great deal of useful information is given in this Boat Builders 
Series, and in °ach book a very interesting story is interwoven with the infor- 
mation. Every reader will be interested at once in Dory, the hero of ‘ All 
Adrift,’ and one of the characters retained in the subsequent volumes of the 
series. His friends will not want to lose sight of him, and every boy who 
makes his acquaintance in ‘All Adrift’ will become his friend.” 


Riverdale Story Books. By Oliver Optic. Twelve vol- 
umes. Illustrated. Illuminated covers. Price: cloth, per 
set, $3.60; per volume, 30 cents; paper, per set, $2.00. 


Little Merchant. 

7 . 

Young Voyagers. 

8. 

Christmas Gift. 

9. 

Dolly and I. 

10. 

Uncle Ben. 

11. 

Birthday Party. 

12 . 


Proud and Lazy. 
Careless Kate. 
Kobinson Crusoe, Jr. 
The Pienic Party. 
The Gold Thimble. 
The Do-Somethings. 


Ri verdale Story Books. By Oliver Optic. Six volumes. 
Illustrated. Fancy cloth and colors. Price per volume, 30 
cents. 


1. 

Little Merchant. 

4. 

Careless Kate. 

2 . 

Proud and Lazy. 

5. 

Dolly and I. 

8 . 

Young Voyagers. 

6. 

Kobinson Crusoe, Jr. 


Flo ra Leo Library. By Oliver Optic. Six volumes. Illus- 
trated. Fancy cloth and colors. Price, per volume, 30 
cents. 

1. The Picnic Party. 4. Christmas Gift. 

2 . The Gold Thimble. 5. Uncle Ben. 

3. The Do- Somethings. (>. Birthday Party. 

These are bright short stories for younger children who are unable to com 
prehend the Starry Flag Series or the Army and Navy Series. But they 
all display the author’s talent for pleasing and interesting the little folks. They 
are all fresh and original, preaching no sermons, but inculcating good lessons. 


\EE AND SHEPARD, BOSTON, SEND THEIR COMPLETE CATALOGUE FRFF 


OLIVER OPTIC’S BOOKS 


/ 


The Great Western Series. By Oliver Optic. In six vol- 
umes. Illustrated. Any volume sold separately. Price per 
volume, $1.25. 

1. Going 1 West; or, The Perils of a Poor Boy. 

2. Out West; or, Roughing it on the Great Lakes. 

3. Lake Breezes; or, The Cruise of the Sylvania. 

4. Going South; or, Yachting on the Atlantic Coast. 

5. Down South; or, Yacht Adventures in Florida. 

6. Up the River; or, Yachting on the Mississippi. 

“This is the latest series of books issued by this popular writer, and dealt 
with life on the Great Lakes, for which a careful study was made by the author 
in a summer tour of the immense water sources of America. The story, which 
carries the same hero through the six books of the series, is always entertain- 
ing, novel scenes and varied incidents giving a constantly changing yet always 
attractive aspect to the narrative. Oliver Optic has written nothing better.’* 

Tb~ ^ lit Club Series. By Oliver Optic. In six volumes. 

strated. Any volume sold separately. Price per volume, 
25. 

,ittle Bobtail; or, The Wreck of the Penobscot. 

. The Yacht Club; or, The Young Boat Builders. 

3. Money-Maker; or. The Victory of the Basilisk. 

4. The Coming Wave; or, The Treasure of High ROCK# 

5. The Dorcas Club; or, Our Girls Afloat. 

6. Ocean Born; or, The Cruise of the Clubs. 

“The series has this peculiarity, that all of its constituent volumes are inde- 
pendent of one another, and therefore each story is complete in itself. Oliver 
Optic is, perhaps, the favorite author of the boys and girls of this country, and 
he seems destined to enjoy an endless popularity. He deserves his success, 
for he makes very interesting stories, and inculcates none but the best senti- 
ments, and the ‘Yacht Club* is no exception to this rule.” — New Haven 
Journal and Courier . 

Onward and Upward Series. By Oliver Optic. In six 
volumes. Illustrated. Any volume sold separately. Price 
per volume, $1.25. 

1. Field and Forest; or, The Fortunes of a Farmer. 

2. Plane and Plank; or, The Mishaps of a Mechanic. 

3. Desk and Debit; or, The Catastrophes of a Clerk. 

4. Cringle and Crosstree; or, The Sea Swashes of a Sailor. 

5. Bivouac and Battle; or, The Struggles of a Soldier. 

6. Sea and Shore; or, The Tramps of a Traveller. 

‘‘Paul Farringford, the hero of these tales, is, like most of this author*® 
heroes, a young man of high spirit, and of high aims and correct principles, 
appearing in the different volumes as a farmer, a captain, a bookkeeper, a 
soldier, a sailor, and a traveller. In all of them the hero meets with very 
exciting adventures, told in the graphic style for which the author is famous.’* 

The Lake Shore Series. By Oliver Optic. In six volumes. 
Illustrated. Any volume sold separately. Price per volume. 
$1.25. 

lo Through by Daylight; or, The Young Engineer of the Laks 
Shore Railroad. 

2. Lightning Express; or, The Rival Academies. 

3. On Time; or, The Young Captain of the Ucayga Steamer. 

4. Switch Off; or, The War of the Students. 

5. Brake Up; or. The Young Peacemakers. 

6. Bear and Forbear; or, The Young Skipper of Lake Ucayga. 

“ Oliver Optic is one of the most fascinating writers for youth, and withal 
one of the best to be found in this or any past age. Troops of young people 
hang over his vivid pages ; and not one of them ever learned to be mean, ignoble, 
cowardly, selfish, or to yield to any vice from anything they ever read from his 
pen ." — Providence Pres*. 

LEE AND SHEPARD. BOSTON, SEND THEIR COMPLETE CATALOGUE FRE* 


OLIVER ORTIC’S BOOKS 


The Famous Boat Club Series. By Oliver Optic. Six 

volumes, illustrated. Any volume sold separately. Price 
per volume $ i 25. 

1. The Boat Club; ok, The Bunkers of Rippleton. 

2. AH Aboard; or, Life on the Lake. 

IS. Wow or IVever; or, The Adventures of Bobhy Bright. 

4. Try Again; or, The Trials and Triumphs of Harry West. 

5. l*oor and Proud ; or, The Fortunes of Katy Redburn. 

<i. Little by Little; ok, The ruise of the Flyaway. 

“ This is the tirst series of books written for the young by Oliver Optic. 
It laid tire toundation for his fame as the first of authors in which the young 
delight, and gained for him the title of the Prince of Story Tellers. The six 
books are varied in incident and plot, but all are entertaining and original.” 

{Other volumes in preparation.) , ^ 

doling’ America Abroad: A Library of Tra 
Adventure in Foreign Lands. By Oliver Opti 
trated by Nast and others. First Series. Six \ t 
Any volume scld separately. Price per volume, $1.25.^ 

1. Outward Bound; or, Young America Afloat. 

2 . Shamrock and Thistle; or, Young America in Ireland and 

Scotland. 

3. Red Gross; cr, Young America in England and Wales. 

4. Hikes and Ditches; or, Young America in Holland and 

Belgium. 

5. Palace and Cottage; or, Young America in France and 

Switzerland. 

6. Down the Rhine; or, Young America in Germany. 

‘‘The story from its inception, and through the twelve volumes (see Second 
Series), is a bewitching one, while the information imparted concerning the 
countries of Europe and the isles of the sea is not only correct in every particu- 
lar, but is told in a captivating style. Oliver Optic will continue to be the 
boys’ friend, and his pleasant books will continue to be read by thousands of 
American boys. What a fine holiday present either or both series of ‘ Young 
America Abroad ’ would be for a young friend ! it would make a little library 
highly prized by the recipient, and would not be an expensive one.” — Provi- 
dence Press. 

ITding" America Abroad. By Oliver Optic. Second Series. 
Six volumes Illustrated. Any volume sold separately. 
Price per volume, $1.25. 

1. Up the Baltic; or, Young America in Norway, Sweden, and 

Denmark. 

2 . Northern Lands; or, Young America in Russia and Prussia. 

3. Cross and Crescent; or, Young America in Turkey and Greece. 

4. Sunny Shores; or, Young America in Italy and Austria. 

5. Vine and Olive; o.r, Young America in Spain and Portugal. 

6. Isles of the Sea; or, Young America Homeward Bound. 

“ Oliver Optic is a nom de plume that is known and loved by almost every 
boy ot intelligence in the land. We have seen a highly intellectual and world- 
weary man, a cynic whose heart was somewhat embittered by its large experi- 
ence ot human nature, take up one of Oliver Optic’s books, and read it at a 
sitting, neglecting his work in yielding to the fascination of the pages. When 
a mature and exceedingly well-intorined mind, long despoiled of all its fresh- 
ness, can thus find pleasure in a book for boys, no additional words of recom- 
mendation are needed.” — Sunday 'limes. 


LEE AND SHEPARD, BOSTON, SEND THEIR COMPLETE CATALOGUE FREE. 


LEE AND SHEPARD'S ILLUSTRATED JUVENILES 


J. T. TROWBRIDGE’S BOOKS 


THE START IN LIFE SERIES. 4 volumes. 

A Start ill Life : A Story of the Genesee Country. By 
J. T. Trowbridge. Illustrated. $1.00. 

In this story the author recounts the hardships of a young’ lad in his first 
endeavor to start out for himself. It is a tale that is full of enthusiasm and 
budding hopes. The writer shows how hard the youths of a century ago were 
compelled to work. This he does in an entertaining way, mingling fun and 
adventures with their daily labors. The hero is a striking example of the 
honest boy, who is not too lazy to work, nor too dull to thoroughly appreciate 
a joke. 

Biding" His Time. By J. T. Trowbridge. Illustrated. $1.00. 

“ It is full of spirit and adventure, and presents a plucky hero who was willing 
to ‘ bide his time,’ no matter how great the expectations that he indulged in 
from his uncle’s vast wealth, which he did not in the least covet. . . . He was 
left a poor orphan in Ohio at seventeen years of age, and soon after heard of a 
rich uncle, who lived near Boston. He sets off on the long journey to Boston, 
finds his uncle, an eccentric old man, is hospitably received by him, but seeks 
employment in a humble way, and proves that he is a persevering and plucky 
young man.” — Boston Home Journal. 

The ICelp Gatherers: A Story of the Maine Coast. By 
J. T. Trowbridge. Illustrated. $1.00. 

This book is full of interesting information upon the plant life of the sea- 
shore, and the life of marine animals; but it is also a bright and readable 
story, with all the hints of character and the vicissitudes of human life, in 
depicting which the author is an acknowledged master. 

The Scarlet Tanager, and Other Bipeds. By J. T. 
Trowbridge. Illustrated. $1.00. 

Every new story which Mr. Trowbridge begins is followed through succes- 
sive chapters by thousands who have read and re-read many times his preceding 
tales. One of his greatest charms is his absolute truthfulness. He does not 
depict little saints, or incorrigible rascals, but just boys. This same fidelity to 
nature is seen in his latest book, “The Scarlet Tanager, and Other Bipeds.” 
There is enough adventure in this tale to commend it to the liveliest reader, 
and all the lessons it teaches are whoiesome. 


LEE AND SHEPARD, BOSTON, SEND THEIR COMPLETE CATALOGUE FREE, 


J. T. TROWBRIDGE'S BOOKS 


THE TIDE-MILL STORIES. 6 volumes. 

Pllil and His Friends. By J. T. Trowbridge. Illustrated 

$1.25. 

The hero is the son of a man who from drink got into debt, and, after having 
given a paper to a creditor authorizing him to keep the son as a security for 
nis claim, ran away, leaving poor Phil a bond slave. The story involves a 
great many unexpected incidents, some of which are painful, and some comic. 
Phil manfully works for a year, cancelling his father’s debt, and then escapes. 
The characters are strongly drawn, and the story is absorbingly interesting. 

The Tinkham Brothers’ Tide-Mill. By J. T. Trowbridge. 

Illustrated. $1-25. 

“ The Tinkham Brothers ” were the devoted sons of an invalid mother. The 
story tells how they purchased a tide-mill, which afterwards, by the ill-will and 
obstinacy of neighbors, became a source of much trouble to them. It tells also 
how, by discretion and the exercise of a peaceable spirit, they at last overcame 
all difficulties. 

“ Mr. T kowbridge’s humor, his fidelity to nature, and story-telling power 
lose nothing with years ; and he stands at the head of those who are furnishing 
a literature for the young, clean and sweet in tone, and always of interest and 
value.” — The Continent. 

The Satin-wood Box. By J. T. Trowbridge. Illustrated. 
$1.25. 

“ Mr. Trowbridge has always a purpose in his writings, and this time he 
has undertaken to show how very near an innocent boy can come to the guilty 
edge and yet be able by fortunate circumstances to rid himself of all suspicion 
of evil. There is something winsome about the hero; but he has a singular 
way of falling into bad luck, although the careful reader will never feel the 
least disposed to doubt his honesty. ... It is the pain and perplexity which 
impart to the story its intense interest.” — Syracuse Standard. 

The JLittle Master. By J. T. Trowbridge. Illustrated. $1.25. 

This is the story of a schoolmaster, his trials, disappointments, and final 
victory. It will recall to many a man his experience in teaching pupils, and 
in managing their opinionated and self-willed parents. The story has the 
charm which is always found in Mr. Trowbridge’s works. 

“ Many a teacher could profit by reading of this plucky little schoolmaster.” 
— Journal of Education. 

His One Fault. By J. T. Trowbridge. Illustrated. $1.25. 

“As for the hero of this story, ‘ His One Fault’ was absent-mindedness. He 
forgot to lock his uncle’s stable door, and the horse was stolen. In seeking to 
recover the stolen horse, he unintentionally stole another. In trying to restore 
the wrong horse to his rightful owner, he was himself arrested. After no end 
of comic and dolorous adventures, he surmounted all his misfortunes by down- 
right pluck and genuine good feeling. It is a noble contribution to juvenile 
literature.” — Woman's Journal. 

Peter Budstone. By J. T. Trowbridge. Illustrated. $1.25. 

“Trowbridge’s other books have been admirable and deservedly popular, 
but this one, in our opinion, is the best yet. It is a story at once spirited and 
touching, with a certain dramatic and artistic quality that appeals to the literary 
sense as well as to the story-loving appetite. In it Mr. Trowbridge has not 
lectured or moralized or remonstrated; he has simply shown boys what they 
are doing when they contemplate hazing. By a good artistic impulse we are 
not shown the hazing at all; when the story begins, the hazing is already over, 
and we are introduced immediately to the results. It is an artistic touch also 
that the boy injured is not hurt because he is a fellow of delicate nerves, but be- 
cause ot his very strength, and the powerwith which he resisted until overcome 
by numbers, and subjected to treatment which kft him insane. 1 1 is insanity 
takes the lorm of harmless delusion, and the absurdity of nis ways and talk 
enables the author to lighten the sombreness without weakening the moral, iu 
a way that ought to win all boys to his side.” — The Critic. 

UE AND SHEPARD, BOSTON, SEND THEIR COMPLETE CATALOGUE FREE 


J. T. TROWBRIDGE’S BOOKS 


THE SILVER MEDAL STORIES. 6 volumes. 

Tlie Silver Medal, and Other Stories. By J. T. Trow- 
bridge. Illustrated. $1.25. 

There were some schoolboys who had turned housebreakers, and among- their 
plunder was a silver medal that had been given to one John Harrison by the 
Humane Society for rescuing from drowning a certain Benton Barry. Now 
Benton Barry was one of the wretched housebreakers. This is the summary 
of the opening chapter. The story is intensely interesting in its serious as 
well as its humorous parts. 

His Own Master. ByJ. T. Trowbridge. Illustrated. $1.25. 

“ This is a book after the typical boy’s own heart. Its hero is a plucky young 
fellow, who, seeing no chance for himself at home, determines to make his own 
way in the world. . . . He sets out accordiftgly, trudges to the far West, and 
finds the road to fortune an unpleasantly rough one.” — Philadelphia Inquirer. 

“ We class this as one of the best stories for boys we ever read. The tone is 
perfectly healthy, and the interest is kept up to the end.” — Boston Home 
Journal. 

Bound in Honor. ByJ. T. Trowbridge. Illustrated. $1.25. 

This story is of a lad, who, though not guilty of any bad action, had been an 
eye-witness of the conduct of his comrades, and felt “ Bound in Honor” not 
to tell. 

“ The glimpses we get of New England character are free from any distor 
tion, and their humorous phases are always entertaining. Mr. Trowbridge’s 
brilliant descriptive faculty is shown to great advantage in the opening chapter 
of the book by a vivid picture of a village fire, and is manifested elsewhere with 
equally telling effect.” — Boston Courier. 

The Pocket Hide. By J. T. Trowbridge. Illustrated. $1.25. 

“A boy’s story which will be read with avidity, as it ought to be, it is so 
brightly and frankly written, and with such evident knowledge of the. tempera- 
ments and habits, the friendships and enmities of schoolboys.” — New York 
Mail. 

‘' This is a capital story for boys. Trowbridge never tells a story poorly. 
It teaches honesty, integrity, and friendship, and how best they can be pro- 
moted. It shows the danger of hasty judgment and circumstantial evidence; 
that right-doing pays, and dishonesty never.” — Chicago Biter -Ocean. 

Tlie Jolly Rover. ByJ. T. Trowbridge. Illustrated. $1.25. 

“ This book will help to neutralize the ill effects of any poison which children 
may have swallowed in the way of sham-adventurous stories and wildly fictitious 
tales. ‘The Jolly It over’ runs away from home, and meets life as it is, till he 
is glad enough to seek again his father’s house. Mr. Trowbridge has the 
power of making an instructive story absorbing in its interest, and of covering 
a moral so that it is easy to take.” — Christian Intelligencer. 

Young* Joe, and Other Boys. ByJ. T. Trowbridge. Illus- 
trated. $1.25. 

* 6 Young Joe,” who lived at Bass Cove, where he shot wild ducks, took some 
to town for sale, and attracted the attention of a portly gentleman fond of shoot- 
ing. This gentleman went duck shooting with Joe, and their adventures were 
more amusing to the boy than to the amateur sportsman. 

There are thirteen other short stories in the book which will be sure to please 
the young folks. 


The Vagabonds: An Illustrated Poem. By J. T. Trow- 
bridge. Cloth. $150. 

“ The Vagabonds ” are a strolling fiddler and his dog. The fiddler has been 
ruined by drink, and his monologue is one of the most pathetic and effective 
pieces in our literature. 


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OCT 12 19Ci 















































































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